Branded Bodies, Rhetoric, and the Neoliberal Nation-State

Jennifer Wingard has given us a powerful concept to think about the ways commodity logic has invaded national discourse. Her analysis of neo-liberal rhetoric is persuasively grounded in telling examples of gay and lesbian, immigrant, enemy combatant, and worker ‘branded bodies’ and of the material forces driving their circulation. Anyone interested in a smart account of the insidious and seductive culture of control should read this book.

Jennifer Wingard’s book is a must read for anyone who takes seriously that words have material power. More to the point, Wingard’s book pushes readers to see how rhetorics that circulate in an era of neoliberal global capital directly affect people and their place in the nation-state. Through thoughtful and cogent rhetorical analyses of US legislation, she lucidly shows how rhetorics have both political and, most importantly, visceral consequences. Branded Bodies offers a clear intervention into the rhetorical processes that demarcate those who matter and those who fall outside the purview of US neoliberal values in a moment of contemporary globalization.