The Necessary Nation

by Jusdanis, Gregory

• ISBN13: 9780691089027
• ISBN10: 0691089027
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2001-01-15
• Publisher: Princeton Univ Pr

Summary

In this controversial look at nationalism, Gregory Jusdanis offers a sweeping defense of the nation as a protector of cultural difference and a catalyst for modernization. Since the end of the Cold War, the nation-state has undergone intense scrutiny among critics in the media and the academy. Many believe that civic nationalism may be fruitful but that cultural nationalism fosters xenophobia and backward thinking. Jusdanis, however, emphasizes the positive collaboration between nation-building and culture. Through a series of critical readings of multicultural, postcolonial, and globalization theories, the author reveals how nationalism enables people to defend their distinctive ways of life, to fight colonial oppression, and to build an independent society of citizens. He explains why people over the last two hundred years have politicized their ethnic identities and have sought a union of culture and power within an autonomous nation-state. While seeking to defend nationalism, Jusdanis also examines its potential to unleash extraordinary violence into the world. He thus proposes federalism as a political solution to the challenges posed by nationalism and globalization. Jusdanis applies the tools of disciplines ranging from anthropology to philosophy, as he explores the nation-building projects of numerous and diverse countries around the world. What emerges is a fresh perspective on the subjects of national culture, identity, political nations, globalization, postcolonialism, and diaspora.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	p. ix
Introduction	p. 3
On Nationalism	p. 17
The Union of Nation and State	p. 18
Nations as Self-Institutions	p. 23
Emotional Attachments	p. 28
Ancient Roots	p. 36
National Integration	p. 39
The Autonomy of Culture?	p. 44
Culture as a Totality	p. 46
Culture as Way of Life	p. 49
Absolute States and Religious Wars	p. 52
Culture as Secondary Agent	p. 55
Nationalism as a Reactive Force	p. 58
The Chicken or the Egg?	p. 65
The Bastion of National Culture	p. 71
Fortress Culture	p. 77
National Culture in Aspiration	p. 83
Intellectuals and Class Interest	p. 86
The Perils of Comparisons	p. 89
National Intellectuals	p. 93
Progress and Belatedness	p. 102
Being Late	p. 105
Catching Up	p. 108
Greece: Postcolonial Narratives	p. 110
Of Backwardness and Change	p. 114
The Greek Culture Wars	p. 118
The Discovery of Tardiness	p. 122
Political Nations	p. 134
England	p. 137
Canada	p. 143
Brazil	p. 148
Egypt	p. 151
The United States	p. 155
Civic Identity	p. 162
The End of Identities?	p. 166
The Disconnecting of America	p. 166
Of Two Multiculturalisms	p. 169
Racial Panethnicities	p. 177
Culture, Culture Everywhere	p. 185
Does Globalization Spell the End?	p. 192
Federal Unions	p. 197
Private Identities, Public Assimilation	p. 201
Endless Diaspora	p. 205
Liberal Nationalism	p. 211
Federalism	p. 215
References	p. 225
Index	p. 259
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