Constructing the Nation: A Race and Nationalism ReaderPhilosophers and social theorists of color examine how racism can creep into defensive forms of nationalism. “What does it mean today to be an ‘American’ when one does not represent or embody the norm of ‘Americanness’ because of one’s race, ethnicity, culture of origin, religion, or some combination of these? What is the norm of ‘Americanness’ today, how has it changed, and how pluralistic is it in reality?” — from the IntroductionIn this volume philosophers and social theorists of color take up these questions, offering nuanced critiques of race and nationalism in the post-9/11 United States focused around the themes of freedom, unity, and homeland. In particular, the contributors examine how normative concepts of American identity and unity come to be defined and defended along increasingly racialized lines in the face of national trauma, and how nonnormative Americans experience the mistrust that their identities and backgrounds engender in this way. The volume takes an important step in recognizing and challenging the unreflective notions of nationalism that emerge in times of crisis. “The idealized and abstract nation-state may be a familiar topic for political investigation, but the actual white nation and its racial state are territory far less explored. This stimulating set of essays—ranging from a reading of post-9/11 children’s literature to an analysis of the racialized aesthetic of white nationalism—provides a valuable and eye-opening introduction to the racial construction of the American polity.” — Charles W. Mills, author of The Racial Contract “A smart and unique set of theoretical reflections on the constitutive role of race and ethnicity in the post-9/11 U.S. American political imaginary, this book should find its place on the bookshelves of everyone interested in questions of citizenship and belonging in a multiracial U.S. polity.” — Chandra Talpade Mohanty, author ofFeminism without Borders: Decolonizing Theory, Practicing Solidarity |
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Contents
Two Midcentury | 17 |
Infantilization of | 43 |
Muslim Women and the Rhetoric of Freedom | 65 |
The Nationalist Erasure of Multiplicity | 91 |
Two Hearts | 153 |
On the Limits of Postcolonial Identity Politics | 179 |
Racialized Aesthetic | 201 |
List of Contributors | 231 |
| 239 | |
Other editions - View all
Constructing the Nation: A Race and Nationalism Reader Mariana Ortega,Linda Martín Alcoff No preview available - 2009 |
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Abu Ghraib African American analysis Anthony Marx Arab argues Aristotle art world artistic become Botero’s Brown chapter citizens citizenship class advancement colonial color constitutional construction context critical critique culture Danto democracy Derrick Bell discourse disturbatory dominant economic enemy ethnic Eurocentrism Europe European Fanon Feminism feminist Fernando Botero freedom Gayatri Spivak gender global homeland human rights Ibid imaginary immigrants Indian American intellectual interdisciplinarity Islam justice Krauss’s Latin American liberal loyalty Marx Marx’s means migrants model minority monoculturalism moral multiculturalism Muslim women national identity nationalist neocolonial norms one’s oppression patriotic philosophy political friendship populations postcolonial theory question race and nationalism racialized aesthetic nationalism racism reading representation rhetoric Richard Serra role scholars sense social society Spivak structural terrorism terrorists tion tional U.S. exceptionalism U.S. nationalism U.S.-centric understanding United unity University Press USA PATRIOT Act Western York
Bibliographic information
| Title | Constructing the Nation: A Race and Nationalism Reader SUNY series, Philosophy and Race |
| Editors | Mariana Ortega, Linda Martín Alcoff |
| Publisher | SUNY Press, 2009 |
| ISBN | 1438428553, 9781438428550 |
| Length | 254 pages |
| Subjects | › › Philosophy / General Philosophy / Political Philosophy / Social Political Science / Political Ideologies / Nationalism & Patriotism Social Science / Minority Studies Social Science / Sociology / General |
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