Ethnic Chauvinism: The Reactionary Impulse

356 Pages·1977·22.526 MB·English

by  Orlando Patterson

ISBN 0-8128-2180-7
Cthnic Chauvinism
Orlando Patterson
This brilliant attack by a Harvard scholar
on ethnic chauvinism and the American
intelligentsia that has given it respect¬
ability is an important intellectual event.
To Orlando Patterson, ethnic chauvin¬
ism, often camouflaged as ethnic plural¬
ism, is a conservative secular faith, in
contrast, say, to the radical, humanistic,
anti-ethnic faith of early Christianity. He
criticizes as intellectual treachery the con¬
servative ethnicity of many young Jewish
intellectuals and of Commentary mag¬
azine; the narrowness of later Christi¬
anity; and the self-delusion of black
“soul.” To him, all share the romantic
myth of a lost paradise and the search for
“roots;” all retreat behind the walls of
“neighborhood,” a new ghetto mentality.
Patterson appeals for a restoration of
the universalist ideal and for a new En¬
lightenment that will release tribal groups
from the poverty, ignorance, and oppres¬
sion that foster fascist movements. Elo¬
quent and prophetic, his book should
stimulate vigorous debate.
(Please see back flap)
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The
Reactionary
Impulse
STEIN AND DAY/Publishers/ New York
I
First published in 1977
Copyright © 1977 by Orlando Patterson
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
Stein and Day/Publishers/ Scarborough House,
Briarcliff Manor, N.Y. 10510
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Patterson, Horace Orlando, 1940-
Ethnic chauvinism: The reactionary impulse
Includes index.
1. Ethnicity. 2. Social groups. 3. Conformity.
4. Deviant behavior. I. Title.
GN495.6.P37 301.45T 76-54912
ISBN 0-8128-2180-7
For David and Evey Riesman