Synopses & Reviews
How is a sense of belonging to a political community created? Rogers Smith suggests that Stories of Peoplehood, narratives which include racial, religious, ethnic and cultural elements, serve to make membership of a political group part of an individual's identity. He argues that competition over accounts of a nation's history and culture is thus an important part of political life. Examples from around the world since the 18th century are included. In particular, Smith traces the history of competing conceptions of national identity and citizenship in the United States from the revolution to the present day, showing the tension between liberal and egalitarian ideals, and traditions of racism and chauvinism. Combining theory with rich historical detail, Smith's book is an original and provocative account of how national identity is forged. Rogers M. Smith is the Christopher H. Browne Distinguished Professor of Political Science at the University of Pennsylvania. Smith centers his research on contitutional law, American political thought, and modern legal and political theory, with special interests in questions of citizenship, race, ethnicity and gender. His previous books include, Civic Ideals: Conflicting Visions of Citizenship in U.S. History (Yale, 1997) and Liberalism and American Constitutional Law (Harvard, 1985).
Review
"[A]n exceptional starting point for dialogue regarding the relative health of American democracy and what might be done to reinvigorate it." Brian J. Gerber, Texas Tech University, Political Science Quarterly"Rogers Smith's fresh and incisive intervention in debates about national solidarity exemplifies the combination of historical depth and theoretical acuity that have made Smith one of the most respected and influential political scientists of his generation." David A. Hollinger, University of California, Berkeley, author of Postethnic America"This well-researched and provocatively argued work will interest theorists and students of comparative and American politics. Highly recommended." Choice"In a book of formidable erudition and learning, Smith succeeds brilliantly in reviewing the vast literature on nationalism, reformulating it into a highly innovative and important thesis about peoplehood and demonstrating the analytical purchase of the derived 'ethically constitutive stories' as an approach to building better societies. Written in elegant prose, Smith's argument is illustrated with a dazzling array of examples, historical and contemporary, imagined and real. Many social scientists declaim the need for scholarship engaged with real political and social problems but few succeed as impressively as Rogers Smith does here. This is political science for our times, applying rigorous analysis to compelling moral challenges. I cannot recommend this book too strongly..." Desmond S. King, Oxford University
Review
andldquo;Smith offers a compelling defense of the importance of andlsquo;stories of peoplehoodandrsquo; to the organization of our political lives, from how we conceive of ourselves as citizens to the kinds of leaders we elect and the policies and legislation they enact. A model of problem-driven political science, the book demonstrates a stunning breadth of knowledge and moves fluently between debates in contemporary democratic theory, American political development, immigration policy, and even literary theory and narratology.andrdquo;
Review
andldquo;For more than three decades, Smith has been one of the leading scholars of the role of ideas in American politics. In Political Peoplehood, he extends and deepens his concept of andlsquo;peoplehood,andrsquo; laying out in the process an agenda for research that is sure to influence future scholarship on political development in the United States and in many other societies as well.andrdquo;
Review
andldquo;Constitutive stories of andlsquo;peoplehoodandrsquo; are not only necessary to keep political communities together, they also design and open the way to a better future. This is a compelling and impressive masterpiece delivered by Smith on what is at the core of politics and nevertheless so much neglected.andrdquo;
Synopsis
An assessment of the importance of the role of 'stories of peoplehood' in building and binding political societies.
Synopsis
Includes bibliographical references (p. 213-225) and index.
Synopsis
What makes a nation and#147;a peopleand#8221;?and#160; Throughout his career, Pulitzer Prize finalist Rogers M. Smith has argued that political peoplehood is a broad and fluid category in which citizenship or race or ethnicity are but one of many possible and overlappingand#160; forms. He has focused particularly on the narratives we tell about ourselves, the stories of peoplehood, and how and why they are so foundational in politics and in human life more broadly. Smithand#8217;s latest book develops theoretical, empirical, and normative arguments that build on but go well beyond his earlier work.and#160; It illuminates the many political roles played by stories of peoplehood; the strengths and dangers of the specific stories that have shaped American politics; and the types of stories that peoples around the world should favor in the future. Exploring Peoplehood begins by advancing a model of how politics worksand#151;the and#147;spiral of politicsand#8221;and#151;and then explains the central role in that politics played by stories of peoplehood. It also analyzes the relationship of individualsand#8217; personal stories to communal ones in order to address how far democratic leaders must be representative delegates rather than exceptional trustees for their constituents. It then uses this theoretical account of stories of peoplehood to illuminate a linked pair of major elements in American politics.and#160; Here Smith explores the revolutionary Americansand#8217; adoption of universalistic individual rights rhetoric to define the aims of their new peoplehood, and how this has shaped Americaand#8217;s subsequent political development.and#160; He also analyzes the many, often opposing, roles that racial, gendered, and religious themes have played in defining who the American people are. The bookand#8217;s final section turns to normative concerns. In making a case for flexible and multiple conceptions of peoplehood, Smith argues against claims for Americaand#8217;s exceptional superiority and in favor of inclusive American policies toward Mexican immigrants. More broadly Smith contends that greater recognition by current and former colonial powers of obligations to their colonies can aid in reducing global poverty and economic inequalities.
Synopsis
For more than three decades, Rogers M. Smith has been one of the leading scholars of the role of ideas in American politics, policies, and history. Over time, he has developed the concept of andldquo;political peoples,andrdquo; a category that is much broader and more fluid than legal citizenship, enabling Smith to offer rich new analyses of political communities, governing institutions, public policies, and moral debates.
This book gathers Smithandrsquo;s most important writings on peoplehood to build a coherent theoretical and historical account of what peoplehood has meant in American political life, informed by frequent comparisons to other political societies. From the revolutionary-era adoption of individual rights rhetoric to todayandrsquo;s battles over the place of immigrants in a rapidly diversifying American society, Smith shows how modern Americaandrsquo;s growing embrace of overlapping identities is in tension with the providentialism and exceptionalism that continue to make up so much of what many believe it means to be an American.
A major work that brings a lifetime of thought to bear on questions that are as urgent now as they have ever been, Political Peoplehood will be essential reading for social scientists, political philosophers, policy analysts, and historians alike.
About the Author
Rogers M. Smith is the Christopher H. Browne Distinguished Professor of Political Science at the University of Pennsylvania. He has published over seventy articles and is author or co-author of the following books: The Unsteady March: The Rise and Decline of Racial Equality in America (with Philip A. Klinkner, 1990); Civic Ideals: Conflicting Visions of Citizenship in U.S. History (1997); Citizenship without Consent: The Illegal Alien in the American Polity (with Peter H. Schuck, 1985); and Liberalism and American Constitutional Law (1985, rev. ed. 1990).
Table of Contents
Introduction: on studying stories of peoplehood; Part I. Explaining the Political Role of Stories of Peoplehood: 1. Elements of a theory of people-making; 2. The role of ethically constitutive stories; Part II. Constructing Political Peoplehood in Morally Defensible Ways: 3. Ethically constitutive stories and norms of allegiance; 4. A pioneering people.