Them and us : questions of citizenship in a globalizing world

Author(s)

Bibliographic Information

Them and us : questions of citizenship in a globalizing world

Rob Kroes

University of Illinois Press, c2000

  • : cloth
  • : pbk

Available at  / 14 libraries

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Note

Includes bibliographical references and index

Contents of Works

  • Supranationalism and its discontents
  • Trespassing in America : American views of borders, boundaries, and frontiers
  • Between globalism and regionalism : a comparison of trends in North America and Europe
  • Immigrants and transnational localism : a focus on photography
  • The human rights tradition in the United States
  • Ideology : black box or the logic of our ideas?
  • Neopopulism and Neoconservatism in the United States: social drift and sociological dilemmas
  • National American studies in Europe, transnational American studies in America?
  • Traveling theories, traveling theorists : French views of American modernity
  • America and the European sense of history
  • Citizenship and cyberspace

Description and Table of Contents

Volume

: cloth ISBN 9780252026041

Description

At the dawn of the twenty-first century, all of us consider ourselves to be citizens of something - but of what? Nation-states, Regions, Ethnic groups, Corporations. An accomplished set of meditations by one of Europe's leading Americanists, "Them and Us" is a rich comparative study of European and American cultural traditions and their influence on conceptions of community. In contrast with the ethnic and nationalist allegiances that historically have splintered Europe, Rob Kroes identifies a complex of cultural practices that have mitigated against ethnically rooted divisions in the United States. He argues that the American approach - articulated by a national rhetoric emphasizing openness rather than closure, diversity rather than uniformity - has much to offer a Europe where the nationalist and ethnic conflicts that spawned two world wars continue to sow terror and destruction. Kroes discusses European and American attitudes toward the welfare state, the human rights tradition in the United States, and the role of regionalism in shaping conceptions of national identity. He also considers new, transnational forms of cultural membership that are emerging to take the place of nation-based citizenship. He contends that the frame of reference Europeans now use to make sense of their collective situation draws on ingredients provided by the worldwide dissemination of American mass culture. He investigates the way this emerging world culture, under American auspices, affects the way people in their local and national settings structure their sense of the past and conceive of their citizenship. Imagining a new set of cultural relationships that could serve as the basis for global citizenship, "Them and Us" is an insightful consideration of the types of solidarity that might weave humankind together into a meaningful community.
Volume

: pbk ISBN 9780252069093

Description

At the dawn of the twenty-first century, all of us consider ourselves to be citizens of something--but of what? Nation-states? Regions? Ethnic groups? Corporations? An accomplished set of meditations by one of Europe's leading Americanists, Them and Us is a rich comparative study of European and American cultural traditions and their influence on conceptions of community. In contrast with the ethnic and nationalist allegiances that historically have splintered Europe, Rob Kroes identifies a complex of cultural practices that have mitigated against ethnically rooted divisions in the United States. He argues that the American approach--articulated by a national rhetoric emphasizing openness rather than closure, diversity rather than uniformity--has much to offer a Europe where the nationalist and ethnic conflicts that spawned two world wars continue to sow terror and destruction. Kroes discusses European and American attitudes toward the welfare state, the human rights tradition in the United States, and the role of regionalism in shaping conceptions of national identity. He also considers new, transnational forms of cultural membership that are emerging to take the place of nation-based citizenship. He contends that the frame of reference Europeans now use to make sense of their collective situation draws on ingredients provided by the worldwide dissemination of American mass culture. He investigates the way this emerging world culture, under American auspices, affects the way people in their local and national settings structure their sense of the past and conceive of their citizenship. Imagining a new set of cultural relationships that could serve as the basis for global citizenship, Them and Us is an insightful consideration of the types of solidarity that might weave humankind together into a meaningful community.

by "Nielsen BookData"

Details

  • NCID
    BA49617133
  • ISBN
    • 0252026047
    • 0252069099
  • LCCN
    00008322
  • Country Code
    us
  • Title Language Code
    eng
  • Text Language Code
    eng
  • Place of Publication
    Urbana
  • Pages/Volumes
    xv, 221 p.
  • Size
    24 cm
  • Classification
  • Subject Headings
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