The Liberty of Strangers: Making the American Nation

Spanning the entire twentieth century and encompassing immigration policies, the nationalistic fallout from both world wars, the civil rights movement, and nation-building efforts in the postcolonial era, The Liberty of Strangers advances a major new interpretation of American nationalism and the future prospects for diverse democracies. Tracing how Americans have confronted and relinquished, but mostly clung to group identities over the past century, Desmond King here debunks one of the guiding assumptions of American nationhood, namely that group distinction and identification would gradually dissolve over time, creating a postethnic nation. The divisions in American society have consistently proven themselves too strong to dissolve and, for better or for worse, the often-disparaged politics of multiculturalism are here to stay, with profound implications for America's democracy.

Author: Desmond King
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Published: 01/19/2006
Pages: 240
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.70lbs
Size: 8.86h x 6.16w x 0.63d
ISBN: 9780195306439

About the Author

Author and editor of numerous books, most recently Making Americans: Immigration, Race, and the Origins of the Diverse Democracy, Desmond King is the Andrew W. Mellon Professor of American Government and Professorial Fellow of Nuffield College at the University of Oxford and a Fellow of the British Academy.

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