Kam Shapiro was born in Honolulu, or so he claims. He received his B.A. from Reed College and his Ph.D. in Political Science from Johns Hopkins University. He currently serves as Associate Professor of Politics and Government at Illinois State University. His work explores various means by which sovereignty, citizenship are invested in and composed by affects and habits. He is the author of Sovereign Nations, Carnal States (Cornell University Press, 2003) and Carl Schmitt and the Intensification of Politics (Rowman and Littlefield, 2008). He lives in Chicago.