Mud, Blood, and Ghosts: Populism, Eugenics, and Spiritualism in the American West

Populism is a global movement associated with nationalism and strong-man politicians, but its root causes remain elusive. Julie Carr's book "Mud, Blood, and Ghosts" explores the history of U.S. agrarian populism, spiritualism, and eugenics, tracing the story of her great-grandfather Omer Madison Kem to explore persistent themes in U.S. history. She connects Kems journey with the white establishment's fury of nativism in the 1920s and asks whether we can embrace the Populists' hopes for a just economy while rejecting the barriers they set up around who was considered fully human.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 356 pages
Publication date: 01 May 2023
Publisher: University of Nebraska Press

Populism has emerged as a worldwide phenomenon, closely linked to nationalism and the rise of strong-man politicians, yet its underlying causes remain somewhat enigmatic. In her book, Mud, Blood, and Ghosts, Julie Carr delves into a profound root that lies in the soil of the American Great Plains. Through meticulous archival research, Carr traces the history of her own family, unearthing connections between U.S. agrarian populism, spiritualism, and eugenics. By examining the life of her great-grandfather, Omer Madison Kem, a three-term Populist representative from Nebraska, Carr explores enduring themes in U.S. history, including property, personhood, exclusion, and belonging. While recent works have acknowledged the struggles of poor whites in rural America, Carr's book goes beyond that, tracing the story back to its origins. By linking Kem's journey with the nativism prevalent in the 1920s, Carr sheds light on the complex interplay between the white establishment and the Populists. Through a series of crucial narratives, Carr explores Indigenous resistance, interracial alliances, betrayals, radical feminism, lifelong hauntings, land policy, debt, shame, grief, and avarice spanning from the Gilded Age to the Progressive Era. She raises important questions about whether we can embrace the Populists' vision of a just economy while rejecting the barriers they erected to define who was considered fully human and worthy of their envisioned society.

Weight: 550g
Dimension: 151 x 229 x 24 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781496235060