The
Making of English National Identity
by Krishan
Kumar
Series editors:
Jeffrey C. Alexander, Yale University, and Steven Seidman, University at Albany,
SUNY
Why
is English national identity so enigmatic and so elusive? Why, unlike the Scots,
Welsh, Irish and most of continental Europe, do the English find it so difficult
to say who they are? The Making of English National Identity is a fascinating
exploration of Englishness and what it means to be English. Drawing on historical,
sociological and literary theory, Krishan Kumar examines the rise of English
nationalism and issues of race and ethnicity from earliest times to the present
day. He argues that the long history of the English as an imperial people has,
as with other imperial people like the Russians and the Austrians, developed
a sense of missionary nationalism which in the interests of unity and empire
has necessitated the repression of ordinary expressions of nationalism. Professor
Kumar's lively and provocative approach challenges readers to reconsider their
pre-conceptions about national identity and who the english really are.
"Kumar's
fine analysis has great import for contemporary debates about multiculturalism...
his originality is an understanding of Englishness from 'the outside in', revealing
an imperial character which by necessity has been so open to outside influence
that today English identity is difficult to define except in mongrel terms."
-Tariq Modood, Professor of Sociology and Director of the Centre for the
Study of Ethnicity and Citizenship, University of Bristol.
"This
is a major contribution to the debates about English and British identity that
have been at the centre of literary studies, history, social science and studies
of nationalism - and of public debate! - for the last decade. Kumar has mastered
all these fields so as to produce the most convincing general interpretation
of the subject now available." -John A. Hall, James McGill Professor
of Sociology, McGill University, Montreal.
More books
by Krishan Kumar
From
Post-Industrial to Post-Modern Society: Second Edition
Utopia and Anti-Utopia in
Modern Times
1989 Revolutionary Ideas
& Ideals
Revolution:
The Theory & Practice of a European Idea
Prophecy
& Progress: The Sociology of Industrial & Post-Industrial Society
Dilemmas
of Liberal Democracies: Studies in Fred Hirsch's Social Limits to Growth
The
Rise of Modern Society: Aspects of the Social & Political Development of
the West
Utopianism
Utopias and the Millennium
Public & Private
in Thought & Practice
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