Unipolar Dispensations: Exceptionalism, Empire, and the End of One America

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Main author: O'Donnell, S. Jonathon
Format: Journal Article           
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id eprints-30197
recordtype eprints
institution SOAS, University of London
collection SOAS Research Online
language English
language_search English
topic BR Christianity
BT Doctrinal Theology
JC Political theory
JK Political institutions (United States)
JZ International relations
description Public and political discourse around the 2016 US Presidential election constructed it as a time of crisis for America. Yet, while over 80% of white evangelicals voted for Donald Trump, religion’s role in this crisis has been marginalized. Analyzing Trump’s support among premillennial dispensationalists, this article explores connections between dispensationalist discourses of divine providence and constructions of Trump’s election as a “turning point” for America. Charting links between conflicts over domestic cultural homogeneity and attempted impositions of US power over global “deviants” (terrorists, rogue states), it argues that the crisis of American identity figured by Trump’s election is tied to religious and secularized soteriologies emerging from notions of American exceptionalism and empire inaugurated by the end of the Cold War.
format Journal Article
author O'Donnell, S. Jonathon
author_facet O'Donnell, S. Jonathon
authorStr O'Donnell, S. Jonathon
author_letter O'Donnell, S. Jonathon
title Unipolar Dispensations: Exceptionalism, Empire, and the End of One America
publisher Taylor and Francis
publishDate 2018
url https://eprints.soas.ac.uk/30197/

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