Liberal Nationalism and Its Critics

Normative and Empirical Questions

Edited by Gina Gustavsson and David Miller

A unique book bringing together scholars from different disciplinary background, including political philosophers and social scientists
Engages in a cross-disciplinary conversation on what two decades of research have taught us about national identities and their social consequences
Incorporates new research on the content and social effects of national identities
Develops the idea of 'cultural nationalism' and debates the role of religion within it

Liberal Nationalism and Its Critics

Normative and Empirical Questions

Edited by Gina Gustavsson and David Miller

Description

The thesis of liberal nationalism is that national identities can serve as a source of unity in culturally diverse liberal societies, thereby lending support to democracy and social justice. The chapters in this book examine that thesis from both normative and empirical perspectives, in the latter case using survey data or psychological experiments from the U.S., Canada, the Netherlands, Denmark, France, and the UK. They explore how people understand what it means to belong to their nation, and show that different aspects of national attachment - national identity, national pride, and national chauvinism - have contrasting effects on support for redistribution and on attitudes towards immigrants. The psychological mechanisms that may explain why people's identity matters for their willingness to extend support to others are examined in depth. Equally important is how the potential recipients of such support are perceived. 'Ethnic' and 'civic' conceptions of national identity are often contrasted, but the empirical basis for such a distinction is shown to be weak. In their place, a cultural conception of national identity is explored, and defended against the charge that it is 'essentialist' and therefore exclusive of minorities. Particular attention is given to the role that religion can legitimately play within such identities. Finally the book examines the challenges involved in integrating immigrants, dual nationals, and other minorities into the national community. It shows that although these groups mostly share the liberal values of the majority, their full inclusion depends on whether they are seen as committed and trustworthy members of the national 'we'.

Liberal Nationalism and Its Critics

Normative and Empirical Questions

Edited by Gina Gustavsson and David Miller

Introduction, Gina Gustavsson and David Miller
Part 1: The Nature of National Identity
1. The Coherence of Liberal Nationalism, David Miller
2. National Identity, Pride, and Chauvinism - their Origins and Consequences for Globalization Attitudes, Leonie Huddy and Alessandro del Ponte
Part 2: The Social Effects of National Identity
3. National Attachment - Cohesive, Divisive, or Both? A Reconsideration of the National Identity Argument through the Lens of Social Identity Theory, Gina Gustavsson
4. Does Nationhood Promote Egalitarian Justice? Challenging the National Identity Argument, Nils Holtug
5. Hierarchy, American Identity, and Support for Anti-Poverty Efforts, Elizabeth Theiss-Morse, Frank Gonzalez and Alison O'Toole
6. 'Solidarity' versus Values as Drivers of Support for Immigrants' Access to Social Benefits, Matthew Wright and Morris Levy
7. Argumentative Contexts of National Identity Definition: Getting Past the Failures of a Universal Ethnic-Civic Dichotomy, Samuel Pehrson
Part 3: The Place of Culture and Religion in Liberal Nationalism
8. Inclusive Identities: The Foundation of Trust in Multicultural Communities', Patti Tamara Lenard
9. Liberal Nationalism and Symbolic Religious Establishment, Cecile Laborde and Sune Laegaard
10. Liberal Nationalism and the Challenge of Essentialism, Margaret Moore
Part 4: Immigrants and Dual Nationals: Double Loyalties and Divided Selves?
11. Beyond National Identity: Liberal Nationalism, Shared Membership and Solidarity, Keith Banting, Will Kymlicka, Allison Harell, and Rebecca Wallace
12. Dual or Divided Identities? National Identity and Community Values among Immigrants in Denmark and Western Europe, Karen N. Breidahl
13. Where the Heart Is: Liberal Nationalism, Social Trust, and Multiple National Belongings, Lior Erez
14. An Unscientific Postscript, Kwame Anthony Appiah

Liberal Nationalism and Its Critics

Normative and Empirical Questions

Edited by Gina Gustavsson and David Miller

Author Information

Gina Gustavsson, Associate Professor, Department of Government, Uppsala University,David Miller, Professor of Political Theory, Nuffield College, University of Oxford

Gina Gustavsson is an Associate Professor at the Department of Government, Uppsala University. Her work spans political theory and political psychology, and has been published in Ethnicities, Ethnic and Racial Studies, Political Studies, The European Political Science Review, The Review of Politics, and The Cambridge Companion to Isaiah Berlin. She is also the author of a forthcoming book on romantic liberalism. Half-Swedish and half-Estonian, she has always had a keen interest in national identity and immigration.

David Miller is Professor of Political Theory at Nuffield College, Oxford and a Visiting Professor of Law and Philosophy at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario. He has been a Fellow of the British Academy since 2002. He has written widely on issues of national identity, citizenship, territory, and immigration, attempting throughout to build bridges between political philosophy and the social sciences. His next book will defend the idea of self-determination against its many critics.

Contributors:

Kwame Anthony Appiah, New York University
Keith Banting, Queen's University, Canada
Karen N. Breidahl, Aalborg University
Alessandro Del Ponte, National University of Singapore
Lior Erez, Minerva Center for Human Rights, Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Frank J. Gonzalez, University of Arizona
Gina Gustavsson, Uppsala University
Allison Harell, Universite du Quebec
Nils Holtug, University of Copenhagen
Leonie Huddy, Stony Brook University
Will Kymlicka, Queen's University, Canada
Cecile Laborde, Oxford University
Sune Laegaard, Roskilde University
Patti Tamara Lenard, University of Ottawa
Morris Levy, University of Southern California
David Miller, University of Oxford
Margaret Moore, Queen's University, Canada
Alison O'Toole, University of Nebraska
Samuel Pehrson, University of St Andrews
Elizabeth Theiss-Morse, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Rebecca Wallace, Queen's University, Canada
Matthew Wright, University of British Columbia