To what extent does peoplehood make sense today? Can plural societies tell national stories without marginalizing their minorities? Should historians be concerned with stories of peoplehood? These are the questions dealt with in this book. It describes, analyzes, and theorizes the nature and history of stories of peoplehood and their implications for national identities, public culture, and academic historiography in societies characterized by cultural and social diversity. The book offers theoretical reflections on the narrative character of national identities and empirical studies of the contexts in which they emerged.

For the last two centuries, the nation state has posed a formidable challenge to multinational empires. It has served as a base for modernisation, secularisation and democratisation -- and also for the formation of totalitarian regimes. Today, the nation state faces challenges from multiple directions. National minorities demand self-determination while religious forces challenge secular governments, and global migration movements undermine the cultural uniformity once considered essential for the formation and preservation of nation states. This is the third of a three-volume set (detailed below) which addresses key challenges facing the contemporary nation state from a global perspective but with special emphasis on the Middle East and Israel. Publication reflects research conducted under the auspices of The Israel Democracy Institute's "Nation State Project", which analyses Israel's complex reality in which a Jewish majority contends with an Arab minority, ultra-Orthodox religious forces reject the authority of the nation state, and an immigrant society exhibits substantial cultural and ethnic variance. Volume III explores the cultural, social and political effects of immigration on the contemporary nation state -- its character, cohesion, and possible future, as well as on contemporary liberal democracy. Contributions deal with such issues as different liberal approaches to the issue of immigration and immigrant integration, nation-building narratives and their implications for immigrants and minorities, citizenship tests and integration policy in the United States and in Europe, as well as Israel's Law of Return and the debate about it and other aspects of immigration policy.

Explores the role of stories in criminal culture and justice systems around the world Stories are much more than a means of communication—stories help us shape our identities, make sense of the world, and mobilize others to action. In Narrative Criminology, prominent scholars from across the academy and around the world examine stories that animate offending. From an examination of how criminals understand certain types of crime to be less moral than others, to how violent offenders and drug users each come to understand or resist their identity as ‘criminals’, to how cultural narratives motivate genocidal action, the case studies in this book cover a wide array of crimes and justice systems throughout the world. The contributors uncover the narratives at the center of their essays through qualitative interviews, ethnographic fieldwork, and written archives, and they scrutinize narrative structure and meaning by analyzing genres, plots, metaphors, and other components of storytelling. In doing so, they reveal the cognitive, ideological, and institutional mechanisms by which narratives promote harmful action. Finally, they consider how offenders’ narratives are linked to and emerge from those of conventional society or specific subcultures. Each chapter reveals important insights and elements for the development of a framework of narrative criminology as an important approach for understanding crime and criminal justice. An unprecedented and landmark collection, Narrative Criminology opens the door for an exciting new field of study on the role of stories in motivating and legitimizing harm.

Economists used to claim that material self-interest and the rational choices of the individual were universal factors that transcended cultural values and differences. This position has been challenged by critics, who have pointed out the methodological and philosophical weaknesses of this approach. They dispute the idea that social order can be explained as the product of the choices of individual agents, and that social agents operate independently of their social and cultural values and norms. Today, there is virtual agreement, not only among students of culture, but also among social scientists that "culture counts" in both politics and society as well as in international relations. In this book, a number of international political scientists, economists, philosophers and humanist scholars address the role of culture, ethnicity, and religion in contemporary states and societies.

This book shows how eugenic sterilization policies were maintained after the 1940s in the United States and Canada despite the discrediting of such theories by comparable Nazi Germany policies. It focuses on the individual experience of victims of sterilization, the doctors concerned, and the mental health institutions that protected the system.

Through an in-depth analysis of historicist literature and art, this book demonstrates that cultural Scandinavism, despite its failure as a political mobilizer, was highly successful in strengthening and extending national consciousness-raising in Denmark, Norway, and Sweden.

Democracy and Empire theorizes the material basis of popular sovereignty via the Black radical tradition. Popular sovereignty contains an affective attachment to wealth, secured through collective agreements to dominate others, i.e., self-and-other-determination. Inés Valdez expands on racial capitalism by theorizing its Anglo-European-based popular politics, which authorize capital accumulation enabled by empire and legitimated by racial ideologies. This stunts political projects in the Global South. Valdez masterfully outlines how social reproduction is provided by racialized others who sacrifice families and communities, and how the political alienation from nature in wealthy polities is mediated by technology and enabled by a joint devaluation of nature and manual labor performed by racialized others. The book concludes with a theorization of anti-imperial popular sovereignty based on political relations that encompass nature. This title is part of the Flip it Open Programme and may also be available Open Access. Check our website Cambridge Core for details.

“Romantik. Journal for the Study of Romanticisms” is a multidisciplinary journal dedicated to the study of romantic-era cultural productions and concepts. The journal promotes innovative research across disciplinary borders. It aims to advance new historical discoveries, forward-looking theoretical insights and cutting-edge methodological approaches. The articles range over the full variety of cultural practices, including the written word, visual arts, history, philosophy, religion, and theatre during the romantic period (c. 1780–1840). But contributions to the discussion of pre- or post-romantic representations are also welcome. Since the romantic era was characterized by an emphasis on the vernacular, the title of journal has been chosen to reflect the Germanic root of the word. But the journal is interested in all European romanticisms – and not least the connections and disconnections between them – hence, the use of the plural in the subtitle. Romantik is a peer-reviewed journal supported by the Nordic Board for Periodicals in the Humanities and Social Sciences (NOP-HS).

Denmark became a nation amidst the turbulence of the nineteenth century, an era plagued by war, bankruptcy, and territorial loss. Building the Nation is an insightful study of this formation, emphasizing the crucial role of N.F.S. Grundtvig, the father of modern Denmark. Persevering through years of humiliation, internal conflict, and occupation, Denmark now boasts one of the world's most stable and democratic political systems, as well as one of its richest economies. From disaster to success, Building the Nation emphasizes the role of national icons and social movements in the formation of Denmark. The poet, political philosopher, clergyman, and founding father N.F.S. Grundtvig is compared to Rousseau and Durkheim in France, to Herder and Fichte in Germany, and to other great thinkers in the United States and Ireland. During his lifetime, the kingdom of Denmark transformed from monarchy to democracy and moved from agrarianism to a modern economy - evolutions to which Grundtvig himself contributed. He has become a fundamental and inescapable reference-point for discussions about nation, democracy, freedom, religion, and education in Denmark and abroad. Situating Grundtvig in both the history of Denmark and the intellectual history of nineteenth-century Europe, Building the Nation argues for the centrality of his influence in the making of modern Denmark, as well as the continuing influence of his work.

Global Mobilities illustrates the significant engagement of museums and archives with populations that have experienced forced or willing migration: emigrants, exiles, refugees, asylum seekers, and others. The volume explores the role of public institutions in the politics of integration and cultural diversity, analyzing their efforts to further the inclusion of racial and ethnic minority populations. Emphasizing the importance of cross-cultural knowledge and exchange, global case studies examine the conflicts inherent in such efforts, considering key issues such as whether to focus on origins or destinations, as well as whether assimilation, integration, or an entirely new model would be the most effective approach. This collection provides an insight into diverse perspectives, not only of museum practitioners and scholars, but also the voices of artists, visitors, undocumented immigrants, and other members of source communities. Global Mobilities is an often provocative and thought-inspiring resource which offers a comprehensive overview of the field for those interested in understanding its complexities.