Margaret Farrar, Ph.D
Professor
Areas of Expertise
- Margaret E Farrar
- Ph.D
- Is a political theorist with a focus on contemporary and democratic theory
- As well as gender politics. Her primary interest lies in exploring the politics at the intersection of place
- Identity
- And memory. Dr. Farrar is dedicated to thinking and writing about these complex interactions
- Contributing significantly to the field
Research Interests
Margaret E Farrar, Ph.D's most recent book, co-authored with anthropologist Adam Kaul, explores the question: How do we make places, and make places our own? *Becoming Utopia* delves into the experiences of a small Midwestern community as it navigates the conflicting impulses of 21st-century place-making. These include nostalgia for the past, which is often undermined by complex origin stories of displacement and colonialism, the balance between historic preservation and disruptive new technologies, and the pursuit of ecological sustainability by multinational corporations. Additionally, the book examines the commitment to localism within the context of pervasive globalization. Each contradiction presents existential questions for small communities across the U.S. Through ethnographic and textual analyses, Farrar and Kaul investigate the purpose and challenges of creating place-based sites for cultural memory, the difficulty of disentangling dissonant heritages from understandings of the past, and the profound impact that supposedly "low impact" technologies can have on the life of a place. They also explore how "local" and "global" narratives are continuously interpolated and amalgamated.Education & Awards
Education
- Ph.D., Political Science, The Pennsylvania State University
- B.A., Political Science, The College of Wooster
Courses Taught
- Introduction to Political Thought
Publications
Books
- Farrar, Margaret E. and Adam Kaul. Forthcoming. Becoming Utopia: History, Heritage, and Sustainability in the American Midwest. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press. Anticipated publication July 2026.
Farrar, Margaret E. 2008. Building the Body Politic: Power and Urban Space in Washington, D.C. Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press. 192 pp.
- Farrar, Margaret and Adam Kaul. 2021. "History and Heritage in Bishop Hill, Illinois: Preservation, Representation, and Tourism is a Swedish-American Borderland," invited chapter for Swedish-American Borderlands: New Histories of Transatlantic Relations, eds. Adam Hjorthn and Dag Blank. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
Farrar, Margaret E. 2019. "Change Management for People Who Hate Change," The American Conference of Academic Deans (ACAD) Leader, April 3, 2019.
Farrar, Margaret E. 2011. "Amnesia, Nostalgia, and the Politics of Place Memory." Political Research Quarterly, 64, 4 (December): 723-735.
Books:
Articles
- Farrar, Margaret E. 2010. "Walter Benjamin." Concise Blackwell Encyclopedia of Sociology, ed. George Ritzer. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing.
Farrar, Margaret E. 2010. "Michel Foucault." Concise Blackwell Encyclopedia of Sociology, ed. George Ritzer. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing.
Farrar, Margaret E. 2009. "Home/sick: Memory, Place, and Loss in New Orleans," Theory and Event 12, 4.
Klien, Stephen and Margaret E. Farrar. 2009. "The Diatribe of Ann Coulter: Gendered Style, Conservative Ideology and the Public Sphere." In Gender and Political Communication in America: Rhetoric, Representation, and Display, ed. Janis Edwards. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 63-86.
Farrar, Margaret E. and Jamie L. Warner. 2008. "Spectacular Resistance: The Billionaires for Bush and the Art of Political Culture Jamming," Polity 40 (July): 273 - 296.
