American Imaginaries: Nations, Societies and Capitalism in the Many Americas (Social Imaginaries)

American Imaginaries examines the diverse societies and nations of the Western hemisphere as they have emerged across the course of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Exploring cities, capitalism, nations, nationalism, and politics from both comparative and transnational perspectives, the book develops a unique approach based on the paradigms of civilizational analysis and social imaginaries. In addition to providing a fresh perspective on the Americas, American Imaginaries gives proper analysis of multinational and intra-national regions and, crucially, the civilizational force of resurgent indigenous nations. The book also covers regions often underemphasized in histories of the hemisphere, such as Central America and the Caribbean. The book will appeal to scholars and students of history, Atlantic studies, comparative and historical sociology, and social theory. In addition, it will gain audiences amongst academics and graduate students who follow debates about modernity, civilizations, historical constellations, and social imaginaries. American Imaginaries Contents Acknowledgments Part I: American Imaginaries: Dimensions of National Societies 1 Introduction 2 Making Americans: Migration and Cities as Metropolitan Imaginaries 3 Creating Capitalism: National States and Regional Patterns 4 Political Imaginaries, Political Traditions: Ideologies and State Formation Part II: Transnational Regions of the Diverse Americas 5 The Undeclared Empire?: US Power in the Western Hemisphere and Beyond 6 A Region of Regions: Provincializing the Americas 7 First Nations Movements and Indigenous Modernities 8 Conclusion: Civilizational Analysis, Multiple Imaginaries, and the Diverse Americas Bibliography Index About the Author This book studies the diverse societies, cities, nations, economies, and regions of the Americas as they emerged in the Western hemisphere in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Drawing on the paradigms of social imaginaries and civilizational analysis, it explores regions of Central America, the Caribbean, the United States, and Latin America "This volume offers a transnational perspective on two centuries of historical experiences in the Americas, providing comparative analysis of different states and societies in the Americas from a perspective consistent with the Social Imaginaries movement"-- Provided by publisher