Synopses & Reviews
In his seminal work andlt;iandgt;The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order,andlt;/iandgt; Samuel Huntington argued provocatively and presciently that with the end of the cold war, and#8220;civilizationsand#8221; were replacing ideologies as the new fault lines in international politics.andlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;Now in his controversial new work, andlt;iandgt;Who Are We?,andlt;/iandgt; Huntington focuses on an identity crisis closer to home as he examines the impact other civilizations and their values are having on our own country.andlt;BRandgt; andlt;BRandgt;America was founded by British settlers who brought with them a distinct culture, says Huntington, including the English language, Protestant values, individualism, religious commitment, and respect for law. The waves of immigrants that later came to the United States gradually accepted these values and assimilated into America's Anglo-Protestant culture. More recently, however, our national identity has been eroded by the problems of assimilating massive numbers of primarily Hispanic immigrants and challenged by issues such as bilingualism, multiculturalism, the devaluation of citizenship, and the and#8220;denationalizationand#8221; of American elites.andlt;BRandgt; andlt;BRandgt;September 11 brought a revival of American patriotism and a renewal of American identity, but already there are signs that this revival is fading. Huntington argues the need for us to reassert the core values that make us Americans. Timely and thought-provoking, andlt;iandgt;Who Are We?andlt;/iandgt; is an important book that is certain to shape our national conversation about who we are.
Review
"Huntington has written a compelling book on the virtues that make America what it is." andlt;BRandgt; andlt;BRandgt; -- William McGurn, andlt;iandgt;The Wall Street Journalandlt;/iandgt;
Review
"Samuel P. Huntington has written a book that poses some of the critical questions facing our nation...[and] tackles these questions with passionate intensity." andlt;BRandgt; andlt;BRandgt; -- Tamar Jacoby, andlt;iandgt;The Washington Postandlt;/iandgt;
Synopsis
In his seminal work The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order, Samuel Huntington argued provocatively and presciently that with the end of the cold war, "civilizations" were replacing ideologies as the new fault lines in international politics.
Now in his controversial new work, Who Are We?, Huntington focuses on an identity crisis closer to home as he examines the impact other civilizations and their values are having on our own country.
America was founded by British settlers who brought with them a distinct culture, says Huntington, including the English language, Protestant values, individualism, religious commitment, and respect for law. The waves of immigrants that later came to the United States gradually accepted these values and assimilated into America's Anglo-Protestant culture. More recently, however, our national identity has been eroded by the problems of assimilating massive numbers of primarily Hispanic immigrants and challenged by issues such as bilingualism, multiculturalism, the devaluation of citizenship, and the "denationalization" of American elites.
September 11 brought a revival of American patriotism and a renewal of American identity, but already there are signs that this revival is fading. Huntington argues the need for us to reassert the core values that make us Americans. Timely and thought-provoking, Who Are We? is an important book that is certain to shape our national conversation about who we are.
About the Author
Samuel P. Huntingtonandlt;/bandgt; was the Albert J. Weatherhead III University Professor at Harvard University, where he was also the director of the John M. Olin Institute for Stategic Studies and the chairman of the Harvard Academy for International and Area Studies. He was the director of security planning for the National Security Council in the Carter administration, the founder and coeditor of andlt;iandgt;Foreign Policy,andlt;/iandgt; and the president of the American Political Science Association.
Table of Contents
Contents Foreword
Part I: The Issues of Identity
Chapter 1. The Crisis of National Identity
Salience: Are the Flags Still There?
Substance: Who Are We?
The Global Identity Crisis
Prospects for American Identity
Chapter 2. Identities: National and Other
The Concept of Identity
Others and Enemies
Sources of Identity
The False Dichotomy
Part II: American Identity
Chapter 3. Components of American Identity
Change, Continuity, and Partial Truths
Settlers Before Immigrants
More Than the Creed
"No Attachment to Place"
Race and Ethnicity
Chapter 4. Anglo-Protestant Culture
The Cultural Core
"The Dissidence of Dissent"
The American Creed
Individualism and the Work Ethic
Moralism and the Reform Ethic
Chapter 5. Religion and Christianity
God, the Cross, and America
A Religious People
Protestant America and Catholicism
A Christian People
Civil Religion
Chapter 6. Emergence, Triumph, Erosion
The Fragility of Nations
Creating an American Identity
National vs. Other Identities
Nation and Patriotism Triumphant
Fading Nationalism
Part III: Challenges to American Identity
Chapter 7. Deconstructing America: The Rise of Subnational Identities
The Deconstructionist Movement
The Challenge to the Creed
The Challenge to English
The Challenge to the Core Culture
Chapter 8. Assimilation: Converts, Ampersands, and the Erosion of Citizenship
Immigration With or Without Assimilation
Assimilation: Still a Success?
Sources of Assimilation
The Immigrants
The Immigration Process
American Society: Americanization Is Un-American
Ampersands and Dual Citizenship
Citizens and Noncitizens
Alternatives to Americanization
Chapter 9. Mexican Immigration and Hispanization
The Mexican/Hispanic Challenge
Why Mexican Immigration Differs
How Mexican Assimilation Lags
Individual Assimilation and Enclave Consolidation
The Hispanization of Miami
The Hispanization of the Southwest
Chapter 10. Merging America with the World
The Changing Environment
The Search for an Enemy
Dead Souls: The Denationalization of Elites
The Patriotic Public
Diasporas, Foreign Governments, and American Politics
Part IV: Renewing American Identity
Chapter 11. Fault Lines Old and New
The Shaping Trends
The Ending of Ethnicity
Race: Constant, Blurring, Fading
White Nativism
Bifurcation: Two Languages and Two Cultures?
Unrepresentative Democracy: Elites vs. the Public
Chapter 12. Twenty-first Century America: Vulnerability, Religion, and National Identity
The Creed in an Age of Vulnerability
Americans Turn to Religion
The Global Resurgence of Religion
Militant Islam vs. America
America in the World: Cosmopolitan, Imperial, and/or National?
Notes
Index