Collateral Language: A User's Guide to America's New War

"This leftward assault on 'the tyranny of political rhetoric used to justify America's new war [on terrorism]' is unlikely to end up on Bush administration nightstands."
—Washington Post

"Journalists are being attacked for telling the truth, for trying to tell it how it is. American journalists especially. I urge them to read a remarkable new book published by the New York University Press and edited by John Collins and Ross Glover. It's called Collateral Language and is, in its own words, intended to expose "the tyranny of political rhetoric". Its chapter titles —"Anthrax", "Cowardice", "Evil", "Freedom", Fundamentalism", "Justice", "Terrorism", "Vital Interests" and—my favourite—"The War on..." (fill in the missing country) tell it all."
—Robert Fisk, The Independent

"Words are weapons in our new war, and all citizens are combatants. As a dictionary of post-911 rhetoric, Collateral Language shows us why we need smart books, not smart bombs. Brilliantly conceived, this book defines the axis of intelligence."
—Amitava Kumar author of Passport Photos and Bombay-London-New York

"The resulting book is to be warmly welcomed and slauted as a valuable contribution to a vital political debate on criminality in language in which the criminals are all too often granted impunity."
—Tribune

"Easily readable by the lay public ... provides insightful arguments and claims."
—Rhetoric & Public Affairs

Terrorism, jihad, fundamentalism, blowback. These and other highly charged terms have saturated news broadcasts and everyday conversation since September 11th. But to keen ears their meanings change depending upon who's doing the talking. So what do these words really mean? And what are people trying to say when they use them?

Each of the thirteen essays in Collateral Language offers an informed perspective on a particular word or phrase that serves as a building block in the edifice of post-World Trade Center rhetoric. In some cases this involves a systematic examination of the term in question (e.g. "anthrax" or "unity")its historical roots, the development of its meaning and usage in the U.S. over time, and its employment in the current context. In other cases authors provide a set of more philosophical or autobiographical reflections on a particular idea (e.g. "vital interests" or "evil"), suggesting a need to consider the ethical and moral implications of using the concept uncritically. In every instance, however, the overriding goal is to give the reader a set of practical tools to analyze the political language that surrounds all of us at this critical point in our nation's history.

Witty, informative and highly readable, Collateral Language is a lexicon of political terminology and an indispensable tool for understanding the current conflict.