Political Culture and the Making of Modern Nation-States

319 Pages·2015·4.918 MB·English

by  Edward Weisband, Courtney I P Thomas

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First published 2015 by Paradigm Publishers

Published 2016 by Routledge
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Weisband, Edward, 1939–
Political culture and the making of modern nation-states / Edward Weisband and
Courtney I. P. Thomas.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-61205-783-5 (hardcover : alk. paper)
ISBN 978-1-61205-802-3 (library ebook)
1. Political culture. 2. Nation-state. I. Thomas, Courtney Irene Powell,
author. II. Title.
JA75.7.W42 2014
320.9—dc23
2014021343
ISBN 13: 978-1-61205-783-5 (hbk)
ISBN 13: 978-1-61205-784-2 (pbk)
This book is dedicated to
Jennifer Renee Pluta, Evangeline Pluta, Genevieve Pluta,
Daniel P. Neville, Morgan Elizabeth Snover, Lane Page
Snover, Kayla Renee Snover, Alex Vincent Davie
And to
Sonya, Marie, Bettie, and Levi
In hopes that they and succeeding generations live in a world of
political cultures where peace, understanding, and reconciliation
become so embedded they can be taken for granted.
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ontentS
Acknowledgments x
Introduction xii
Part I Transformations of Political Culture
from Times Past to Future Present
1 Political Culture 2
Key Concepts: Political Culture 5
Alternate Perspectives: Identity 19
2 Kinship Communities as Political Cultures 22
Key Concepts: Legitimacy 25
Alternate Perspectives: Male and Female Circumcision 30
3 Dynastic Intermediaries: Culture and Governance between Kinship
and States 36
Alternate Perspectives: Political Culture and Economic Development 56
Key Concepts: Self-Determination 61
4 Modern Sovereign Nation-States: Nationality, Citizenship, and
Hyphenated Identities 64
Alternate Perspectives: Sovereignty 79
Key Concepts: Sovereignty, Nonintervention, and Human Rights 82
vii
viii contentS
Part II The Making of the Political Culture
of the American Nation-State
5 Internal Colonialism and the American Experience 90
Key Concepts: Citizenship 94
Alternate Perspectives: Ethnicity, Nationality,
and Nation-Building 114
6 Groups as Identity Objects in American Political Culture 118
Key Concepts: Group Rights 128
Alternate Perspectives: Feminist IR Theory 133
Part III Global Colonialism and the Making
of the Modern Nation-State
7 Colonialist and Postcolonial Political Culture 140
Key Concepts: Failed States 148
Alternate Perspectives: Failed State Index 173
8 Ethno-Political Violence and Subnational Conflict 181
Alternate Perspectives: Ethnic Conflict 183
Key Concepts: Nationalism 185
Part IV The Holocaust, Genocide, and Crimes against
Humanity: Political Culture in Violation of Personhood
9 The Holocaust 212
Key Concepts: Genocide 215
Alternate Perspectives: Nationality, Nationalism,
and Citizenship 223
10 Nativism and Genocide in Postcolonial Rwanda 232
Alternate Perspectives: Domestic Political Conflict and
Failed States 238
Key Concepts: Responsibility to Protect (R2P) 245
Part V Nation-Building and State-Building:
Future Challenges in the Present
11 The Struggle over Legitimacy: A Case Study of Afghanistan 250
Key Concepts: Federations, Confederations, and Unitary
Governments 258
contentS ix
Alternate Perspectives: Anthropology and Social Psychology 263
Conclusion 268
Notes 274
Bibliography 283
Index 290
About the Authors 303