"In this remarkable book, Michael Gorup reveals himself to be a leading scholar of American race and the politics of popular sovereignty. In exquisite detail, rather than argue that American democracy is always moving in a more egalitarian direction, Group examines the way that a defining strain of American politics has always been to use the idea of peoplehood to reconstruct social hierarchy. Focusing particularly on the way racism is 82 a democratic technology of counterrevolution, 82 7 Gorup takes us on a historically expansive and theoretically sophisticated journey that answers crucial questions about the nature of American political ideology. This book is a major intervention in the field of American political thought." 82 2 Alex Zamalin, author of Against Civility: The Hidden Racism in our Obsession with Civility
"In this meticulously researched and compellingly written book, Michael Gorup provides a new interpretation of the racial politics of peoplehood in the United States. Joining a chorus of authors who have argued that racial domination has profoundly shaped democratic aspirations for popular sovereignty, Gorup ups the ante by charting how white supremacy has also served as a 82 counterrevolutionary shadow, 82 7 a form of racial enclosure that has restricted the scope and force of popular democratic politics. This is a must read for anyone interested in better understanding the intersections of race and democratic theory." 82 2 Adam Dahl, author of Empire of the People: Settler Colonialism and the Foundations of Modern Democratic Thought
"Racism is the counterrevolutionary shadow to American democracy, Michael Gorup argues in this exciting and important book. Racism draws upon the tenets of democracy 82 2 from popular sovereignty to rule of law 82 2 in order to undermine democracy 82 7 s true revolutionary force as collective self-rule. Analyzing thinkers from Thomas Jefferson to Ida B. Wells to Huey Newton, Gorup not only reveals America 82 7 s counterrevolutionary shadow, he also shows what it might look like to finally detangle democracy from racial despotism." 82 2 Elisabeth Anker, author of Ugly Freedoms
"In The Counterrevolutionary Shadow, Michael Gorup explores how American conceptions of race, peoplehood, and democracy both include and exceed the logics of domination and despotism. Drawing on a rich archive rooted in the Black radical tradition, Gorup approaches race as a world-building practice whose relationship to democracy has often been constrained yet remains a necessary site of struggle and possibility." 82 2 Cristina Beltrį n, author of Cruelty as Citizenship: How Migrant Suffering Sustains White Democracy
