Postethnic America: Beyond Multiculturalism in the United States - Perfect for Cultural Studies & Diversity Discussions
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Product Description
Sympathetic with the new ethnic consciousness, Hollinger argues that the conventional liberal toleration of all established ethnic groups no longer works because it leaves unchallenged the prevailing imbalance of power. Yet the multiculturalist alternative does nothing to stop the fragmenting of American society into competing ethnic enclaves, each concerned primarily with its own well-being. Hollinger argues instead for a new cosmopolitanism, an appreciation of multiple identities -- new cross-cultural affiliations based not on the biologically given but on consent, on the right to emphasize or diminish the significance of one's ethnoracial affiliation. Postethnic America is a bracing reminder of America's universalist promise as a haven for all peoples. While recognizing the Eurocentric narrowness of that older universalism, Hollinger makes a stirring call for a new nationalism. He urges that a democratic nation-state like ours must help bridge the gap between our common fellowship as human beings and the great variety of ethnic and racial groups represented within the United States.
Customer Reviews
I found Hollinger's book to contain many pithy clarifications of the behemoth of confusion we generally call multiculturalism, including its "foster[ing] of sensitivity to diversity so acute that it has become too diverse for the ethno-racial pentagon to contain." Yes, Hollinger is an historian rather than a psychologist or a sociologist, so we get this MC discussion from that viewpoint, which I found enlightening. I applaud the way he revitalized the concept of cosmopolitanism from the elitist, smorgasbord, school-boy rap to its more useful orientation toward openness to new social constructs and affiliations, not tied so much to prescribed, racial identities which were designed to highlight some differences at the expense of others. Granted, his four or five chapters of historical background do seem to overshadow the chapter in which he offers his postethnic alternative, but his vision isn't quite the pie-in-the-sky vision some seem to feel it is. Hollinger invites us to think outside the box (or the ethno-racial pentagon, as it were) and envision changes to America's MC dilemmas. This was a well-constructed, quick read, full of lots to think about.
