Race and Citizen Identity in the Classical Athenian Democracy

by Susan Lape

• ISBN13: 9780521191043
• ISBN10: 0521191041
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2010-02-15
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

In Race and Citizen Identity in the Classical Athenian Democracy, Susan Lape demonstrates how a race ideology grounded citizen identity. Although this ideology did not manifest itself in a fully developed race myth, its study offers insight into the causes and conditions that can give rise to race and racisms in both modern and pre-modern cultures. In the Athenian context, racial citizenship emerged because it both defined and justified those who were entitled to share in the political, symbolic, and socioeconomic goods of Athenian citizenship. By investigating Athenian law, drama, and citizenship practices, this study shows how citizen identity worked in practice to consolidate national unity and to account for past Athenian achievements. It also considers how Athenian identity narratives fueled Herodotus' and Thucydides' understanding of history and causation.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. ix
Acknowledgments	p. xi
Theorizing Citizen Identity	p. 1
Introduction	p. 1
Law, Ethnic-Nationalism, and the Making of Citizen Identity	p. 7
Transforming Myth into Law	p. 19
Racial Citizenship: After Ethnicity and "before" Race	p. 31
The Sociopolitical Context of Athenian Racism	p. 41
Selves and Others: The Faces of Citizen Identity	p. 44
Theory, Method, and Overview	p. 52
The Rhetoric of Racial Citizenship	p. 61
From Athenian Birth to Citizen Identity	p. 61
Old Comedy and the City's "Foreign" Leaders	p. 64
The Dog Orator: The Bad Citizen as Bad Seed	p. 71
Aristocratic Reproductive Affronts	p. 78
Gender, Heredity, and the Democratic Type	p. 82
Gender and the Alchemy of Citizen Identity	p. 88
Euripides' "Ion" and the Family Romance of Athenian Racialism	p. 95
The Family Plot: Athenian Racialism on Stage	p. 95
From Autochthony to Race	p. 100
The Problem: Sterility or Aristocratic Inter-polis Marriage Exchange?	p. 105
Gender, Maternal Inheritance, and Racialized Reproduction	p. 108
Four Sons from a Single Root	p. 116
Rape, Autochthony, and the Violence of Foundation	p. 119
Creousa's Double Bind: Maternity and Murder	p. 124
Polyvalent Bastards: Tensions and Ambiguities in Athenian Racial Kinship	p. 127
Athenian Identity in History and as History	p. 137
Identity and History	p. 137
The Athenian History of the Athenians	p. 141
Enemies Within: The Athenian Explanation for Decline and Defeat	p. 145
Herodotus on the Athenians: From Identity as History to a History of Identity	p. 149
Gender and the Origins of Athenian Imperialism	p. 155
Democracy, Freedom, and the Making of Athenian Exceptionalism	p. 161
Ethnic Identity and Collective Action	p. 167
The Contingency of National Character	p. 173
Thucydides' Alchemy of Athenian-ness	p. 176
Trials of Citizen Identity: Policing and Producing the Racial Frontier	p. 186
Identifying Citizens and Prosecuting Frauds	p. 186
Performing Citizen Identity at the Dokimasia	p. 192
Regulating and Rationalizing Racial Citizenship (Diapsephismos)	p. 199
Euxitheus' Appeal and the "Secret History" of Racial Citizenship(Dem. 57, "Against Eubulides")	p. 203
Apollodorus and the Status Anxiety of the Naturalized Citizen	p. 216
Counterfeiting Marriage, or How to Be an Illegal Alien (Dem. 59, "Against Neaera")	p. 220
"Race" Trumps Class: Apollodorus on Female Citizen Identity	p. 229
From Race to Character: Refiguring the Racial Frontier	p. 234
Myths and Realities of Racial Citizenship	p. 240
Athenian Receptivity and Racial Citizenship	p. 240
Naturalization and the Character of the Nation	p. 246
Kinship Nationalism and the Rhetoric of Anti-Naturalization	p. 249
War and Civic Boundaries: Cases of Mass Naturalization	p. 254
Renewing Racism and Refusing Civil War	p. 262
Conclusion: Identity and the Ingredients of Social Agency	p. 274
Abbreviations	p. 285
References	p. 289
Index of Names and Subjects	p. 331
Index of Passages Discussed	p. 336
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