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Postethnic America

Beyond Multiculturalism

Contributors

By David A. Hollinger

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$11.99

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$15.99 CAD

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  1. ebook $11.99 $15.99 CAD
  2. Trade Paperback $21.99 $28.99 CAD

This item is a preorder. Your payment method will be charged immediately, and the product is expected to ship on or around February 28, 2006. This date is subject to change due to shipping delays beyond our control.

Sympathetic with the new ethnic consciousness, Hollinger argues that the conventional liberal toleration of all established ethnic groups no longer works because it leaves unchallenged the prevailing imbalance of power. Yet the multiculturalist alternative does nothing to stop the fragmenting of American society into competing ethnic enclaves, each concerned primarily with its own well-being. Hollinger argues instead for a new cosmopolitanism, an appreciation of multiple identities — new cross-cultural affiliations based not on the biologically given but on consent, on the right to emphasize or diminish the significance of one’s ethnoracial affiliation. Postethnic America is a bracing reminder of America’s universalist promise as a haven for all peoples. While recognizing the Eurocentric narrowness of that older universalism, Hollinger makes a stirring call for a new nationalism. He urges that a democratic nation-state like ours must help bridge the gap between our common fellowship as human beings and the great variety of ethnic and racial groups represented within the United States.

On Sale
Feb 28, 2006
Page Count
320 pages
Publisher
Basic Books
ISBN-13
9780786722280

David A. Hollinger

About the Author

David A. Hollinger is professor of history at the University of California at Berkely. His other books include Science, Jews, and Secular Culture and In the American Province.

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