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Narrative Identity, Autonomy, and Mortality: From Frankfurt and MacIntyre to Kierkegaard (Routledge Studies in Contemporary Philosophy)
by John J. DavenportIn the last two decades, interest in narrative conceptions of identity has grown exponentially, though there is little agreement about what a "life-narrative" might be. In connecting Kierkegaard with virtue ethics, several scholars have recently argued that narrative models of selves and MacIntyre's concept of the unity of a life help make sense of Kierkegaard's existential stages and, in particular, explain the transition from "aesthetic" to "ethical" modes of life. But others have recently raised difficult questions both for these readings of Kierkegaard and for narrative accounts of identity that draw on the work of MacIntyre in general. While some of these objections concern a strong kind of unity or "wholeheartedness" among an agent's long-term goals or cares, the fundamental objection raised by critics is that personal identity cannot be a narrative, since stories are artifacts made by persons. In this book, Davenport defends the narrative approach to practical identity and autonomy in general, and to Kierkegaard's stages in particular.
Narrative in Culture: The Uses of Storytelling in the Sciences, Philosophy and Literature (Warwick Studies in Philosophy and Literature)
by Christopher NashFirst published in 1994. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.
Narrative Life: Democratic Curriculum and Indigenous Learning
by Neil HooleyWritten with educational practitioners in mind and set in a framework of progressive epistemology and pedagogy, this work tackles issues of global concern. It seeks to answer the question of how we structure education for the world's 370 million indigenous people so as to promote intercultural understanding, maximize opportunity and right colonial wrongs. Hooley's work details an innovative curriculum design for indigenous school children based on the principles of participatory narrative inquiry, as well as exemplars of indigenous knowledge. Written from an Australian perspective, the book discusses broad international issues that impact on schooling such as globalisation, democratic education and whiteness and raises significant questions regarding indigenous culture and knowledge. Taking inspiration from the works of John Dewey and Paulo Freire, Hooley asserts that a curriculum based on participatory narrative inquiry recognises and respects the interests and rights of local Indigenous communities. Further, it provides a mechanism for linking with white mainstream curricula through the compilation of portfolios of student work and exemplars of knowledge across all subjects areas. This model views formal schooling as a central aspect of a child's personal, family and community narrative and does not impose knowledge from without, but constructs knowledge from within. Learning is given an indigenous context and thus two-way inquiry between cultural viewpoints is encouraged. Narrative Life makes an original contribution to Indigenous education worldwide, and does so across all settings of primary and secondary schooling.
Narrative Ontology
by Axel HutterThis book is a critical inquiry into three ideas that have been at the heart of philosophical reflection since time immemorial: freedom, God and immortality. Their inherent connection has disappeared from our thought. We barely pay attention to the latter two ideas, and the notion of freedom is used so loosely today that it has become vacuous. Axel Hutter’s book seeks to remind philosophy of its distinct task: only in understanding itself as human self-knowledge that articulates itself in these three ideas will philosophy do justice to its own concept. In developing this line of argument, Hutter finds an ally in Thomas Mann, whose novel Joseph and His Brothers has more to say about freedom, God and immortality than most contemporary philosophy does. Through his reading of Mann’s novel, Hutter explores these three ideas in a distinctive way. He brings out the intimate connection between philosophical self-knowledge and narrative form: Mann’s novel gives expression to the depth of human self-understanding and, thus, demands a genuinely philosophical interpretation. In turn, philosophical concepts are freed from abstractness by resonating with the novel’s motifs and its rich language. Narrative Ontology is both a highly original work of philosophy and a vigorous defence of humanism. It brings together philosophy and literature in a creative way, it will be of great interest to students and scholars in philosophy, literature and the humanities in general.
Narrative Persuasion. A Cognitive Perspective on Language Evolution (Interdisciplinary Evolution Research #7)
by Francesco FerrettiThis book explores the evolutionary and cognitive foundations of human communication, focusing on narrative as its distinctive dimension. Within a framework of continuity with both the communication of our hominin predecessors and that of non-human animals, the book is about a twofold proposal. It includes the idea that (human and animal) communication has an intrinsically persuasive nature along with the hypothesis that humans developed narrative forms of communication in order to enhance their persuasive abilities. In this view, narrative persuasion becomes the feature that distinguishes human communication from animal communication. The study of the transition from animal communication to language addresses both the selective pressures that led communication for persuasive purposes to take a narrative form and the cognitive architectures and expressive systems that enabled our ancestors to cope with the selective pressures of persuasive/narrative-based communication. Language evolution is interdisciplinary, even from the specific perspective of evolutionary pragmatics chosen here. Therefore, this book is intended for researchers working in fields such as cognitive sciences, philosophy, evolutionary biology, cognitive psychology, and primatology. It also represents a valuable resource for advanced students in cognitive sciences, linguistics, and philosophy.
Narrative, Philosophy and Life
by Allen SpeightThis notable collection provides an interdisciplinary platform for prominent thinkers who have all made significant recent contributions to exploring the nexus of philosophy and narrative. It includes the latest assessments of several key positions in the current philosophical debate. These perspectives underpin a range of thematic strands exploring the influence of narrative on notions of selfhood, identity, temporal experience, and the emotions, among others. Drawing from the humanities, literature, history and religious studies, as well as philosophy, the volume opens with papers on narrative intelligence and the relationship between narrative and agency. It features special sections of in-depth commentary on a range of topics. How, for example, do narrative and philosophical biography interact? Do celebrated biographical and autobiographical accounts of the lives of philosophers contribute to our understanding of their work? This new volume has a substantive remit that incorporates the intercultural religious view of philosophy's links to narrative together with its many secular aspects. A valuable new resource for more advanced scholars in all its constituent disciplines, it represents a significant addition to the literature of this richly productive area of research.
Narrative Psychology
by Julia VassilievaThis book provides the first comparative analysis of thethree major streams of contemporary narrative psychology as they have beendeveloped in North America, Europe, and Australia and New Zealand. Interrogating the historical and cultural conditions in which this importantmovement in psychology has emerged, the book presents clear, well-structuredcomparisons and critique of the key theories of narrative psychology pioneeredacross the globe. Examples include Dan McAdams in the US and his followers, whohave developed a distinctive approach to self and identity as a life story overthe past two decades; in the Netherlands by Hubert Hermans, whose research onthe 'dialogical self' has made the University of Nijmegen a centre of narrativepsychological research in Europe; and in Australia and New Zealand, where thecollaborative efforts of Michael White and David Epston helped to launch thenarrative movement in psychotherapy in the late 1980s.
Narratives and Reflections in Music Education: Listening to Voices Seldom Heard (Landscapes: the Arts, Aesthetics, and Education #28)
by Tawnya D. Smith Karin S. HendricksThis volume offers chapters written by some of the most respected narrative and qualitative inquiry writers in the field of music education. The authorship and scope are international, and the chapters advance the philosophical, theoretical, and methodological bases of narrative inquiry in music education and the arts. The book contains two sections, each with a specific aim. The first is to continue and expand upon dialogue regarding narrative inquiry in music education, emphasizing how narrative involves the art of listening to and hearing others whose voices are often unheard. The chapters invite music teachers and scholars to experience and confront music education stories from multiple perspectives and worldviews, inviting an international readership to engage in critical dialogue with and about marginalized voices in music. The second section focuses on ways in which narrative might be represented beyond the printed page, such as with music, film, photography, and performative pieces. This section includes philosophical discussions about arts-based and aesthetic inquiry, as well as examples of such work.
Narratives of African American Women’s Literary Pragmatism and Creative Democracy
by Gregory PhippsThis book charts an interdisciplinary narrative of literary pragmatism and creative democracy across the writings of African American women, from the works of nineteenth-century philosophers to the novels and short stories of Harlem Renaissance authors. The book argues that this critically neglected narrative forms a genealogy of black feminist intersectionality and a major contribution to the development of American pragmatism. Bringing together the philosophical writings of Maria Stewart, Anna Julia Cooper, and Mary Church Terrell and the fictional works of Jessie Fauset, Nella Larsen, and Zora Neale Hurston, this text provides a literary pragmatist study of the archetypes, tropes, settings, and modes of resistance that populate the narrative of creative democracy. Above all, this book considers how these philosophers and authors construct democracy as a lived experience that gains meaning not through state institutions but through communities founded on relationships among black women and their shared understandings of culture, knowledge, experience, and rebellion.
Narratives of Educational Leadership: Representing Research via Creative Analytic Practices (Educational Leadership Theory)
by Denise MifsudThis book documents and deconstructs the concept of educational leadership within various education settings originating from diverse global environments. It focuses on presenting different readings of educational leadership via distinct theoretical and methodological applications. It takes forward the idea of critical leadership studies and uses creative analytic practices to present layered readings of educational leadership.The book offers leadership studies dealing with various education settings across a wide spectrum with international perspectives. It provides examples of educational narratives through somewhat unconventional modes of representation. This book is beneficial to readers interested in the study of educational leadership and using qualitative methodologies in educational research.
Narratives of Social Justice Educators
by Shirley Mthethwa-SommersThis book presents narratives of eminent social justice educators, which provide a window into why these educators have made it their mission to educate for attainment of social justice; it succinctly defines what social justice education is and what it is not. Eleven nationally and internationally eminent narratives of social justice educators, namely, Beverly Daniel Tatum, Sonia Nieto, Kevin Kumashiro, Valerie Ooka Pang, Teresita Aguilar, Gaille Canella, Christine Sleeter, Julie Andrzejewski, Norma Bailey, Kent Koppelman, and Cathy Pohan, are featured. Racial, gender, socio-economic class, and sexuality diversity of the social justice educators enriches the book by providing multidimensional perspectives on the impact of social positioning in choosing to educate for social justice. Chapter One, "Introduction to Social Justice Educators," provides an in-depth introduction to the social justice educators who are featured in the book. It delineates reasons they were selected to participate in the study of narratives for social justice educators. This chapter highlights diverse paths that contributed to the participants engaging in social justice education and outlines all their contributions to social justice education. Chapter Two, "Personal Influence," describes the participants' personal influences and how formative years of interacting with family members and peers contributed in shaping their identities as social justice educators. In addition, this chapter examines how their varied racial, gender, and sexuality identities served to prepare them for their profession. Chapter Three, "Professional Influence," offers a window into the participants' professional life influences on their choice to work toward social justice education. The educators discuss the impact of individual teachers and professors, the field in which they work and exposure to specific curriculum and readings that served to ignite their interest in educating for social justice. Chapter Four, " Impact of Social and Historical Events," explores the influence of social and historical events had in the evolution of social justice educators. Such events compelled social justice educators to critically reflect on their roles in society and the importance of engaging in social justice activism through their work. Chapter Five, " Reasons for Standing Firm," focuses on reasons that keep social justice educators holding firm to their convictions of social justice education and teaching for social change. It explores the role of spirituality and their sense of commitment. Chapter Six , "Epilogue," offers a synthesis of the experiences of social justice educators, implications for teacher education programs, and lessons that can be gleaned from their narratives. Stories from the social justice educators provide theoretical and pedagogical frameworks for teaching about social justice issues in education. Each chapter concludes with lessons that can be gleaned from the narratives and applied when working with students.
Narratives of Statelessness and Political Otherness: Kurdish and Palestinian Experiences (Minorities in West Asia and North Africa)
by Barzoo EliassiThis book argues that citizenship is an inadequate solution to the problem of statelessness based on a critical investigation of the lived experiences of Kurdish and Palestinian diasporas in western Europe. It examines how statelessness affects identity formations, homelessness, belonging, non-belonging, otherness, voices, status, (non)recognition, (dis)respect, (in)visibility and presence in the uneven world of nation-states. It also demonstrates that the undoing of non-sovereign identities’ subjection to structural subalternization and everyday inferiorization requires rights in excess of the mere acquisition of juridical citizenship, which tends to assume national sameness. That assumption in turn involves sovereign practices of denial and assimilation of ethnic alterity. The book therefore highlights the necessity of de-ethnicizing and decolonizing unitary nation-states that are based on the politico-cultural supremacy of a single, “core” ethnicity as the sovereign legislator of the rules and regimes of national belonging and un-belonging. It therefore broaches questions of “majority” and “minority,” mobility, nationalism, home-making, equality, difference and universalism in the context of the nation-state and illustrates how stateless peoples such as Kurds and Palestinians endure and challenge their subordinate position in a hierarchical (geo-)political order and how in so doing remain bound by political otherness.
Narrativity in Cognition
by Brook MillerThis book offers a novel theory of the roles narrative plays in cognition by arguing that we can develop rich interdisciplinary research by thinking of narrative as a form of processing. Narrative processing describes a mode of anticipating, organizing, and simulating experience that is provisional, ongoing, and deeply integrated into how we make sense of what happens and how we figure ourselves into it. Accounts of narrative differ widely between cognitive psychology, contemporary philosophy, and literary studies. As a result, it is difficult to reconcile research about narrative from these disciplines. Yet the questions at stake in this research are often profound. For example, how are experiences organized into meaningful sequences? How do the rich and complex features of a ‘life narrative’ emerge from the ways experience is processed in perception, working memory, and other components of present cognition? The model of narrative processing proposed in this book complements several influential, emerging theories of cognition, including predictive processing, emotion as a component to cognition, and ecological theories of cognition. The book argues that the role of narrative in higher-order cognition is reciprocally related to the emergent narrative features of lower-order cognition. In doing so, it provides a coherent concept of narrative with the potential to inform research in various disciplines.
A Narratological Approach to Lists in Detective Fiction (Crime Files)
by Sarah J. LinkThis open access book examines how the form of the list features as a tool for meaning-making in the genre of detective fiction from the nineteenth to the twenty-first century. The book analyzes how both readers and detectives rely on listing as an ordering and structuring tool, and highlights the crucial role that lists assume in the reading process. It extends the boundaries of an emerging field dedicated to the study of lists in literature and caters to a newly revived interest in form and New Formalist approaches in narratological research. The central aim of this book is to show how detective fiction makes use of lists in order to frame various conceptions of knowledge. The frames created by these lists are crucial to decoding the texts, and they can be used to demonstrate how readers can be engaged in the act of detection or manipulated into accepting certain propositions in the text.
The Narrow Corridor: States, Societies, and the Fate of Liberty
by Daron Acemoglu James A. RobinsonFrom the authors of the international bestseller Why Nations Fail, a crucial new big-picture framework that answers the question of how liberty flourishes in some states but falls to authoritarianism or anarchy in others--and explains how it can continue to thrive despite new threats. In Why Nations Fail, Daron Acemoglu and James A. Robinson argued that countries rise and fall based not on culture, geography, or chance, but on the power of their institutions. In their new book, they build a new theory about liberty and how to achieve it, drawing a wealth of evidence from both current affairs and disparate threads of world history. Liberty is hardly the "natural" order of things. In most places and at most times, the strong have dominated the weak and human freedom has been quashed by force or by customs and norms. Either states have been too weak to protect individuals from these threats, or states have been too strong for people to protect themselves from despotism. Liberty emerges only when a delicate and precarious balance is struck between state and society. There is a Western myth that political liberty is a durable construct, arrived at by a process of "enlightenment." This static view is a fantasy, the authors argue. In reality, the corridor to liberty is narrow and stays open only via a fundamental and incessant struggle between state and society: The authors look to the American Civil Rights Movement, Europe’s early and recent history, the Zapotec civilization circa 500 BCE, and Lagos’s efforts to uproot corruption and institute government accountability to illustrate what it takes to get and stay in the corridor. But they also examine Chinese imperial history, colonialism in the Pacific, India’s caste system, Saudi Arabia’s suffocating cage of norms, and the “Paper Leviathan” of many Latin American and African nations to show how countries can drift away from it, and explain the feedback loops that make liberty harder to achieve. Today we are in the midst of a time of wrenching destabilization. We need liberty more than ever, and yet the corridor to liberty is becoming narrower and more treacherous. The danger on the horizon is not "just" the loss of our political freedom, however grim that is in itself; it is also the disintegration of the prosperity and safety that critically depend on liberty. The opposite of the corridor of liberty is the road to ruin.
Narrowing the Achievement Gap: Parental Engagement with Children’s Learning (Routledge Research in Education)
by Janet GoodallNarrowing the Achievement Gap proposes a radical change to our conception of learning, education and schooling, arguing that parental engagement is the best lever we have for school improvement and closing the achievement gap. Unique in its focus on original research linking underachievement and parental engagement, this book uses a range of international case studies to demonstrate that achievement isn’t only reliant on what happens in school and that what happens out of school is equally important. Each chapter explores how schools can actively engage with parents and communities to reinstate education in the home, and to generate support to combat issues out of their control, including poverty, deprivation, and a lack of social capital. Although schools have an integral part to play in this process, it argues that parents and society must reconsider their own educational responsibility, regardless of background, and offers a solid research base and practical suggestions to help do so. Consisting of an in-depth and contemporary study of this significant issue in educational achievement and written by an expert in the field, this text will appeal to researchers, academics and postgraduate students in the fields of education, schooling, sociology of education, school effectiveness and improvement, school policy and school leadership.
Nasser's Gamble: How Intervention in Yemen Caused the Six-Day War and the Decline of Egyptian Power
by Jesse FerrisNasser's Gamble draws on declassified documents from six countries and original material in Arabic, German, Hebrew, and Russian to present a new understanding of Egypt's disastrous five-year intervention in Yemen, which Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser later referred to as "my Vietnam." Jesse Ferris argues that Nasser's attempt to export the Egyptian revolution to Yemen played a decisive role in destabilizing Egypt's relations with the Cold War powers, tarnishing its image in the Arab world, ruining its economy, and driving its rulers to instigate the fatal series of missteps that led to war with Israel in 1967. Viewing the Six Day War as an unintended consequence of the Saudi-Egyptian struggle over Yemen, Ferris demonstrates that the most important Cold War conflict in the Middle East was not the clash between Israel and its neighbors. It was the inter-Arab struggle between monarchies and republics over power and legitimacy. Egypt's defeat in the "Arab Cold War" set the stage for the rise of Saudi Arabia and political Islam. Bold and provocative, Nasser's Gamble brings to life a critical phase in the modern history of the Middle East. Its compelling analysis of Egypt's fall from power in the 1960s offers new insights into the decline of Arab nationalism, exposing the deep historical roots of the Arab Spring of 2011.
Nasty, Brutish, and Short: Adventures in Philosophy with My Kids
by Scott HershovitzFrom a University of Michigan professor of law and philosophy, a fresh, deep, and funny inquiry into life&’s biggest questions with the help of first-rate philosophers—including his two young childrenSome of the best philosophers in the world gather in surprising places—preschools and playgrounds. They debate questions about metaphysics and morality, even though they&’ve never heard the words and perhaps can&’t even tie their shoes. They&’re kids. And as Scott Hershovitz shows in this delightful debut, they&’re astoundingly good philosophers.Hershovitz has two young sons, Rex and Hank. From the time they could talk, he noticed that they raised philosophical questions and were determined to answer them. They re-created ancient arguments. And they advanced entirely new ones. That&’s not unusual, Hershovitz says. Every kid is a philosopher.Following an agenda set by Rex and Hank, Hershovitz takes us on a fun romp through classic and contemporary philosophy, powered by questions like, Does Hank have the right to drink soda? When is it okay to swear? and, Does the number six exist? Hershovitz and his boys take on more weighty issues too. They explore punishment, authority, sex, gender, race, the nature of truth and knowledge, and the existence of God. Along the way, they get help from professional philosophers, famous and obscure. And they show that all of us have a lot to learn from listening to kids—and thinking with them.Hershovitz calls on us to support kids in their philosophical adventures. But more than that, he challenges us to join them so that we can become better, more discerning thinkers and recapture some of the wonder kids have at the world.
Natality: Toward A Philosophy Of Birth
by Jennifer Banks“A gripping exploration of some of society’s biggest contradictions.… [Natality] is a fascinating read.” —Dana Suskind, MD, author of Parent Nation An exhilarating exploration of natality, a much-needed counterpoint to mortality, drawing on the insights of brilliant writers and thinkers. Birth is one of the most fraught and polarized issues of our time, at the center of debates on abortion, gender, work, and medicine. But birth is not solely an issue; it is a fundamental part of the human condition, and, alongside death, the most consequential event in human life. Yet it remains dramatically unexplored. Although we have long intellectual traditions of wrestling with mortality, few have ever heard of natality, the term political theorist Hannah Arendt used to describe birth’s active role in our lives. In this ambitious, revelatory book, Jennifer Banks begins with Arendt’s definition of natality as the “miracle that saves the world” to develop an expansive framework for birth’s philosophical, political, spiritual, and aesthetic significance. Banks focuses on seven renowned western thinkers—Arendt, Friedrich Nietzsche, Mary Wollstonecraft, Mary Shelley, Sojourner Truth, Adrienne Rich, and Toni Morrison—to reveal a provocative countertradition of birth. She narrates these writers’ own experiences alongside the generative ways they contended with natality in their work. Passionately intelligent and wide-ranging, Natality invites readers to attend to birth as a challenging and life-affirming reminder of our shared humanity and our capacity for creative renewal.
Nathan the Wise: A Dramatic Poem (Dover Thrift Editions)
by William Taylor Gotthold Ephraim LessingA Jewish merchant, a Muslim sultan, and a young Templar knight transcend the differences in their faiths in this play's moving plea for religious tolerance and cooperation amongst Christians, Jews, and Muslims. Set in Jerusalem during the Third Crusade, the Enlightenment-era drama explores timeless considerations that range from the nature of God to the conflict between love and duty and the importance of unity amid division and diversity.Nathan the Wise (Nathan der Weise) was published in Germany in 1779, although its performance was forbidden by the church during the lifetime of author Gotthold Ephraim Lessing. The highly influential play had its 1783 premiere in Berlin and has since been translated into many languages and adapted for performances around the world.
Nathaniel Hawthorne as Political Philosopher: Revolutionary Principles Domesticated and Personalized
by John E. AlvisUsing the works of Nathaniel Hawthorne as a case study, John E. Alvis shows that a novelist can be a political philosopher. He demonstrates that much of Hawthorne's works are rooted in the American political tradition. Once we view his writings in connection with the principles expressed in the Declaration of Independence, we grasp that what Thomas Jefferson and John Adams had stated explicitly, Hawthorne's fiction conveys dramatically. With examples drawn from Hawthorne's shorter works, as well as acknowledged classics, such as The Scarlet Letter, John E. Alvis shows that Hawthorne's characters bear something sacred in their generic humanity, yet are subject to moral judgment. He conveys reciprocity between obligations regulating individual relations and the responsibilities of individuals to their community.From America's founding proclamations in the Declaration of Independence we take a sense of national aspirations for a political order that conforms to laws of nature and nature's God. From this higher law emerge the principles enumerated in that revolutionary document. Are these principles confined to the political, or do they reach into the experience of citizens to inform conduct? Do they include family, local community, and individual face-to-face relations with neighbors and strangers? Can one make a distinct way of life by fidelity to such standards as higher law, equality, liberty, natural rights, and consent?This study is distinguished from other writings on Hawthorne in its largely positive focus on America. Alvis characterizes Hawthorne as a rational patriot who endorses America's new terms for human association. This fascinating study provides new insights into the mind of one of the greatest American writers.
Nation and Identity (Ideas)
by Ross PooleNation and Identity provides a concise and comprehensive account of the place of national identity in modern life. Ross Poole argues that the nation became a fundamental organising principle of social, political and moral life during the period of early modernity and that is has provided the organising principle of much liberal, republican and democratic thought. Ross Poole offers us a new and urgently needed analysis of the concept of identity, arguing that we are now in a position to envisage the end of nationalism. We see that the impact of issues like multiculturalism, republicanism, and indigenous rights have made it very difficult to see how the possibility of a postnational cosmopolitanism could not degenerate into a nihilistic moral universe. Nation and Identity will be a fascinating read for all those interested in issues of national identity, both politically and philosophically.
Nation and Region in Grierson’s Linguistic Survey of India
by Javed MajeedGeorge Abraham Grierson’s Linguistic Survey of India is one of the most complete sources on South Asian languages. This book is the first detailed examination of the Survey. It shows how the Survey collaborated with Indian activists to consolidate the regional languages in India. By focusing on India as a linguistic region, it was at odds with the colonial state’s conceptualisation of the subcontinent, in which religious and caste differences were key to its understanding of Indian society. A number of the Survey’s narratives are detachable from its rigorous linguistic imperatives, and together with aspects of Grierson’s other texts, these contributed to the way in which Indian nationalists appropriated and reshaped languages, making them religiously charged ideological symbols of particular versions of the subcontinent. Thus, the Survey played an important role in the emergence of religious nationalism and language conflict in the subcontinent in the 20th century. This volume, like its companion volume Colonialism and Knowledge in Grierson’s Linguistic Survey of India, will be a great resource for scholars and researchers of linguistics, language and literature, history, political studies, cultural studies and South Asian studies.
Nation Building: Why Some Countries Come Together While Others Fall Apart (Princeton Studies in Global and Comparative Sociology)
by Andreas WimmerA new and comprehensive look at the reasons behind successful or failed nation buildingNation Building presents bold new answers to an age-old question. Why is national integration achieved in some diverse countries, while others are destabilized by political inequality between ethnic groups, contentious politics, or even separatism and ethnic war? Traversing centuries and continents from early nineteenth-century Europe and Asia to Africa from the turn of the twenty-first century to today, Andreas Wimmer delves into the slow-moving forces that encourage political alliances to stretch across ethnic divides and build national unity.Using datasets that cover the entire world and three pairs of case studies, Wimmer’s theory of nation building focuses on slow-moving, generational processes: the spread of civil society organizations, linguistic assimilation, and the states’ capacity to provide public goods. Wimmer contrasts Switzerland and Belgium to demonstrate how the early development of voluntary organizations enhanced nation building; he examines Botswana and Somalia to illustrate how providing public goods can bring diverse political constituencies together; and he shows that the differences between China and Russia indicate how a shared linguistic space may help build political alliances across ethnic boundaries.Wimmer then reveals, based on the statistical analysis of large-scale datasets, that these mechanisms are at work around the world and explain nation building better than competing arguments such as democratic governance or colonial legacies. He also shows that when political alliances crosscut ethnic divides and when most ethnic communities are represented at the highest levels of government, the general populace will identify with the nation and its symbols, further deepening national political integration.Offering a long-term historical perspective and global outlook, Nation Building sheds important new light on the challenges of political integration in diverse countries.
Nation-Building in Indian Anthropology: Beyond the Colonial Encounter
by Abhijit GuhaResearches on the history of anthropological studies in India, unlike in western countries, has not yet been an established tradition, despite the fact that courses on the growth and development of anthropology in India are being taught at the graduate and postgraduate levels in the Indian universities and are strongly recommended by the University Grants Commission. Indian anthropologists, however, in the early decades after the independence made inspiring and solid research contributions on the major problems encountered by the new nation, which has been described and analysed in detail in this book. These problems include rehabilitation of refugees after the 1947 Partition; and displacement of people from their homes and land caused by the big dams, industrialization and famines. This book, result of years of painstaking research by the author, critically reviews the existing works and their gaps in the history of Indian anthropology and makes a new and valuable addition in the field of the history of academic disciplines in the context of nation building. It should be read not only as a text by the students of anthropology and sociology, but also as a reference work for researchers interested in the history of social sciences and development studies in India.