"From every corner of the globe in the early twenty-first century echo warnings that populism threatens democracy and imperils intellectual inquiry. But populism doesn't always serve demagoguery. In fact, over the course of American history it has often fostered inquiry and democracy rather than opposing them. In this distinctly democratic intellectual tradition pitting 'the people' against 'the establishment,' ordinary people assume leading roles in the pursuit of knowledge. Focusing on five key thinkers from the era of the populism's birth in the United States, this book traces the key rhetorical appeals that proved capable of resisting the intellectual status quo and building alternative communities of inquiry. Robert Ingersoll, Mary Baker Eddy, Thomas Davidson, Booker T. Washington, and Zitkála-Sá deployed populist rhetoric to rally ordinary people as thinkers in new intellectual efforts. Through these case studies, Intellectual Populism demonstrates how orators and advocates can channel the frustrations and energies of the American people toward productive, democratic, intellectual ends"--.