Politics in Gotham: The Batman Universe and Political Thought

Description

In Politics in Gotham, scholars from a variety of fields—political science, philosophy, law, and others—provide answers to the question: “What does Batman have to do with politics?” Contributors use the Batman canon, from the comics to the feature films, to explore a broad range of issues in politics and political thought. What can Batman’s role in Gotham City teach us about democracy? How do Batman’s vigilantism and his violence fit within a society committed to the rule of law? What’s the relationship between politics in Gotham and politics in our own communities? From Machiavelli to the fake news phenomenon, this book provides a compelling introduction to the politics behind one of the world’s most enduring pop culture figures. Front Matter ....Pages i-xv Introduction: “I Don’t Want Batman as President” (Damien K. Picariello)....Pages 1-6 Justice Unmasked (Alan I. Baily)....Pages 7-22 The Dark Knight: Toward a Democratic Tragedy (Steven Johnston)....Pages 23-38 The Heroism of Sober Expectations (Damien K. Picariello)....Pages 39-56 Deconstructing Batman’s Legitimacy: The Radical Political Critique of Christopher Nolan’s Batman Cycle (William J. Berger)....Pages 57-74 Batman the Noble Dog: The Costs of Spiritedness for the Individual and Society (Ian J. Drake, Matthew B. Lloyd)....Pages 75-90 The Dark Prince of the Republic: Machiavelli, Batman, and Gotham City (Anthony Petros Spanakos)....Pages 91-105 The Lion, the Fox, and the Bat: The Animal Nature of Machiavelli’s The Prince and Batman (Daniel V. Goff)....Pages 107-121 Criminal Justice in Gotham: The Role of the Dark Knight (Mark D. White)....Pages 123-140 The Retributive Knight (Mohamad Al-Hakim)....Pages 141-157 Politics as “the Product of Everything You Fear”: Scarecrow as Phobia Entrepreneur (Christina M. Knopf)....Pages 159-175 #FAKENEWS in Gotham City (Salvatore James Russo)....Pages 177-193 Batgirls and the Politics of Feminism in Gotham (Carolyn Cocca)....Pages 195-211 Dawn of Justice: Revisioning, Accountability, and Batman in the Twenty-first Century (Aidan Diamond)....Pages 213-231 Back Matter ....Pages 233-237