Nationalism is one of modern history’s great surprises. How is it that the nation, a relatively old form of community, has risen to such prominence in an era so strongly identified with the individual? Bernard Yack argues that it is the inadequacy of our understanding of community—and especially the moral psychology that animates it—that has made this question so difficult to answer. Yack develops a broader and more flexible theory of community and shows how to use it in the study of nations and nationalism. What makes nationalism such a powerful and morally problematic force in our lives is the interplay of old feelings of communal loyalty and relatively new beliefs about popular sovereignty. By uncovering this fraught relationship, Yack moves our understanding of nationalism beyond the oft-rehearsed debate between primordialists and modernists, those who exaggerate our loss of individuality and those who underestimate the depth of communal attachments. A brilliant and compelling book, Nationalism and the Moral Psychology of Community sets out a revisionist conception of nationalism that cannot be ignored.

A brilliant and compelling book, Nationalism and the Moral Psychology of Community sets out a revisionist conception of nationalism that cannot be ignored."--Pub. desc.

Research on international norms has yet to answer satisfactorily some of our own most important questions about the origins of norms and the conditions under which some norms win out over others. The authors argue that international relations (IR) theorists should engage more with research in moral psychology and neuroscience to advance theories of norm emergence and resonance. This Element first provides an overview of six areas of research in neuroscience and moral psychology that hold particular promise for norms theorists and international relations theory more generally. It next surveys existing literature in IR to see how literature from moral psychology is already being put to use, and then recommends a research agenda for norms researchers engaging with this literature. The authors do not believe that this exchange should be a one-way street, however, and they discuss various ways in which the IR literature on norms may be of interest and of use to moral psychologists, and of use to advocacy communities.

A bold new interpretation of Aristotelian thought is central to Bernard Yack's provocative new book. He shows that for Aristotle, community is a conflict-ridden fact of everyday life, as well as an ideal of social harmony and integration. From political justice and the rule of law to class struggle and moral conflict, Yack maintains that Aristotle intended to explain the conditions of everyday political life, not just, as most commentators assume, to represent the hypothetical achievements of an idealistic "best regime." By showing how Aristotelian ideas can provide new insight into our own political life, Yack makes a valuable contribution to contemporary discourse and debate. His work will excite interest among a wide range of social, moral, and political theorists. This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press's mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1993. A bold new interpretation of Aristotelian thought is central to Bernard Yack's provocative new book. He shows that for Aristotle, community is a conflict-ridden fact of everyday life, as well as an ideal of social harmony and integration. From political j

An important contribution to our thought about human society. A classic, long out of print.

Uncertainty about what is truly going on makes it simpler to hold to irrational views.' From the man who wrote more about his country than anybody, razor-sharp thoughts on patriotism, bigotry, and power. Penguin Modern is a collection of fifty new books that celebrate the legendary Penguin Modern Classics series' pioneering spirit, with each giving a concentrated dosage of the series' contemporary, worldwide flavour. From Kathy Acker to James Baldwin, Truman Capote to Stanislaw Lem, and George Orwell to Shirley Jackson, here are essays that are both radical and inspiring, poems that are both moving and disturbing, and stories that are both surreal and fantastic, taking us from the deep South to modern Japan, New York's underground scene to the farthest reaches of space.

Standing at the edge of life's abyss, we seek meaningful order. We commonly find this 'symbolic immortality' in religion, civilization, state and nation. What happens, however, when the nation itself appears mortal? The Mortality and Morality of Nations seeks to answer this question, theoretically and empirically. It argues that mortality makes morality, and right makes might; the nation's sense of a looming abyss informs its quest for a higher moral ground, which, if reached, can bolster its vitality. The book investigates nationalism's promise of moral immortality and its limitations via three case studies: French Canadians, Israeli Jews, and Afrikaners. All three have been insecure about the validity of their identity or the viability of their polity, or both. They have sought partial redress in existential self-legitimation: by the nation, of the nation and for the nation's very existence.

Since the late 1980s, many East Asian countries have become more multicultural, a process marked by increased democracy and pluralism despite the continuing influence of nationalism, which has forced these countries in the region to re-envision their nations. Many such countries have had to reconsider their constitutional make-up, their terms of citizenship and the ideal of social harmony. This has resulted in new immigration and border-control policies and the revisiting of laws regarding labor policies, sociopolitical discrimination, and socioeconomic welfare. This book explores new perspectives, concepts, and theories that are socially relevant, culturally suitable, and normatively attractive in the East Asia context. It not only outlines the particular experiences of nation, citizenship, and nationalism in East Asian countries but also places them within the wider theoretical context. The contributors look at how nationalism under the force of multiculturalism, or vice versa, affects East Asian societies including China, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, and Hong Kong differently. The key themes are: Democracy and equality; Confucianism’s relationship with nationalism, cosmopolitanism and multiculturalism; China’s use of its political institutions to initiate and sustain nationalism; the impact of globalization on nationalism in South Korea, Taiwan and Japan; the role of democracy in reinvigorating indigenous cultures in Taiwan.

This volume brings together eminent Tagore scholars and younger writers to revisit the concepts of nation, nationalism, identity and selfhood, civilization, culture and homeland in Tagore’s writings. As these ideas take up the centre-stage of politics in the subcontinent as also elsewhere in the world in the 21st century, it becomes extremely relevant to revisit his works in this context. Tagore’s ambivalence towards nationalism as an ideology was apparent in the responses in his discussions with Indians and non-Indians alike. Tagore developed the concept of ‘syncretic’ civilization as a basis of nationalist civilizational unity, where society was central, unlike the European model of state-centric civilization. However, as the subterranean tensions of communalism became clear in the early 20th century, Tagore reflexively critiqued his own political position in society. He thus emerged as the critic of the nation/nation-state and in this he shared his deep unease with other thinkers like Romain Rolland and Albert Einstein. This volume for the first time covers the socio-political, historical, literary and cultural concerns relating to Tagore’s efforts towards the 'de-colonization' of the Self. The volume begins with various perspectives on Tagore’s ‘ambivalence’ about nationalism. It encompasses critical examinations of Tagore’s literary works and other art forms as well as adaptations of his works on film. It also reads Tagore’s nationalism in a comparative mode with contemporary thinkers in India and abroad who were engaged in similar debates.

In Narratives of Civic Duty, Aram Hur investigates the impulse behind a sense of civic duty in democracies. Why do some citizens feel a responsibility to vote, pay taxes, or take up arms in defense of one's country? Through comparing democratic societies in East Asia and elsewhere, Hur shows that the sense of obligation to be a good citizen—upon which the resilience of a democracy depends—emerges from a force long thought to be detrimental to democracy itself: national attachments. Nationalism's illiberal and exclusive tendencies are typically viewed as disruptive to democratic processes, but Hur argues that there is nothing inherently antidemocratic about nationalism. Rather, whether nationalism helps or hinders democracy is shaped by the historicized relationship between a national people and their democratic state. When national stories portray that relationship as one of mutual commitment, nationalism strengthens democracies by motivating widespread civic duty among citizens. Drawing on personal narratives, statistical surveys, and experiments, Narratives of Civic Duty offers a provocative national theory of civic duty that cuts to the heart of what makes democracies thrive.