After Nationalism: Being American in an Age of Division (Radical Conservatisms)

Nationalism is on the rise across the Western world, serving as a rallying cry for voters angry at the unacknowledged failures of globalization that has dominated politics and economics since the end of the Cold War. In After Nationalism , Samuel Goldman trains a sympathetic but skeptical eye on the trend, highlighting the deep challenges that face any contemporary effort to revive social cohesion at the national level. Noting the obstacles standing in the way of basing any unifying political project on a singular vision of national identity, Goldman highlights three pillars of mid-twentieth-century nationalism, all of which are absent today: the social dominance of Protestant Christianity, the absorption of European immigrants in a broader white identity, and the defense of democracy abroad. Most of today's nationalists fail to recognize these necessary underpinnings of any renewed nationalism, or the potentially troubling consequences that they would engender. To secure the general welfare in a new century, the future of American unity lies not in monolithic nationalism. Rather, Goldman suggests we move in the opposite direction: go small, embrace difference as the driving characteristic of American society, and support political projects grounded in local communities.

Nationalism is on the rise across the Western world, serving as a rallying cry for voters angry at the unacknowledged failures of globalization that has dominated politics and economics since the end of the Cold War. In After Nationalism, Samuel Goldman trains a sympathetic but skeptical eye on the trend, highlighting the deep challenges that face any contemporary effort to revive social cohesion at the national level.

Noting the obstacles standing in the way of basing any unifying political project on a singular vision of national identity, Goldman highlights three pillars of mid-twentieth-century nationalism, all of which are absent today: the social dominance of Protestant Christianity, the absorption of European immigrants in a broader white identity, and the defense of democracy abroad. Most of today's nationalists fail to recognize these necessary underpinnings of any renewed nationalism, or the potentially troubling consequences that they would engender.

To secure the general welfare in a new century, the future of American unity lies not in monolithic nationalism. Rather, Goldman suggests we move in the opposite direction: go small, embrace difference as the driving characteristic of American society, and support political projects grounded in local communities.

Nationalism is on the rise across the Western world, serving asa rallying cry for voters angry at the unacknowledged failures ofglobalization that has dominated politics and economics since theend of the Cold War. In After Nationalism, Samuel Goldmantrains a sympathetic but skeptical eye on the trend, highlightingthe deep challenges that face any contemporary effort to revivesocial cohesion at the national level.

Noting the obstacles standing in the way of basing any unifyingpolitical project on a singular vision of national identity,Goldman highlights three pillars of mid-twentieth-centurynationalism, all of which are absent today: the social dominance ofProtestant Christianity, the absorption of European immigrants in abroader white identity, and the defense of democracy abroad. Mostof today's nationalists fail to recognize these necessaryunderpinnings of any renewed nationalism, or the potentiallytroubling consequences that they would engender.

To secure the general welfare in a new century, the future ofAmerican unity lies not in monolithic nationalism. Rather, Goldmansuggests we move in the opposite direction: go small, embracedifference as the driving characteristic of American society, andsupport political projects grounded in local communities.

Nationalism is on the rise across the Western world, serving as a rallying cry for voters angry at the unacknowledged failures of the consensus in favor of globalization that has dominated politics and economics since the end of the Cold War. In After Nationalism, Samuel Goldman trains a sympathetic but skeptical eye on the trend, highlighting the deep challenges that face any contemporary effort to revive social cohesion at the national level. Noting the many obstacles standing in the way of basing any political project on widely shared values and beliefs, Goldman points to three pillars of mid-twentieth-century nationalism, all of which are absent today: coercive Americanization, total mobilization for war, and widespread religious faith. Most of today's nationalists fail to recognize these necessary underpinnings of any renewed nationalism, or the potentially troubling activities and consequences that they would engender (including extensive state activism in Americanization efforts and the massive growth of government that tends to accompany military mobilization). For that reason, Goldman concludes, those worried about the need for social cohesion should move in the opposite direction-toward support for political projects grounded in local communities "In the ideological conflicts of the twentieth century, themes previously associated with the cause of racial equality were revived. Once feared as a threat to the union, a creed of equal rights became something like our official philosophy. Scholars found precedents for this creed in the words of great statesmen and writers. As an institutionalized consensus, however, it was a product of three world wars--two hot, one cold. In the decades since the fall of the Berlin Wall, consensus has seemed dangerously absent. Our newspaper headlines, television chyrons, and social media feeds express deep anxiety that the fabric of our common life is coming apart. Did we ever share a stable vision of national character and purpose? Can we recover it? Those are the animating questions of After Nationalism"-- Provided by publisher To secure the general welfare in a new century, the future of American unity lies not in monolithic nationalism. Rather, Samuel Goldman suggests we move in the opposite direction: go small, embrace difference as the driving characteristic of American society, and support political projects grounded in local communities