Postethnic America: Beyond Multiculturalism

by David A Hollinger

Overview

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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780786722280
Publisher:	Basic Books
Publication date:	02/28/2006
Sold by:	Hachette Digital, Inc.
Format:	eBook
Pages:	320
Lexile:	1620L (what's this?)
File size:	598 KB

About the Author

David A. Hollinger is professor of history at the University of California at Berkely. His other books include Science, Jews, and Secular Culture and In the American Province.

What People are Saying About This

K. Anthony Appiah

David Hollinger's wonderful lucidity and intense moral seriousness, his elegant combination of analytical and historical insight, and his wise unraveling of the knotted fabric of American cultural life: all these virtues, familiar to all who know his earlier work, are here fully on display. I do not ordinarily endorse the notion that history can teach us the future, but here at least is a historian who can help us understand where we are going.
—(K. Anthony Appiah, Harvard University)

Richard Rorty

Hollinger's is the most perceptive and far—sighted discussion of multiculturalism that I've ever read. What he calls "he postethnic perspective" seems exactly what we need.
—(Richard Rorty, University of Virginia)

Stanley Katz

Postethnic America is a brilliant little book which has the potential to show us how to bring America together.
—(Stanley Katz, President, American Council of Learned Societies)

Editorial Reviews

Defenders of cultural diversity must move beyond multiculturalism, avows UC Berkeley historian Hollinger in this thoughtful, challenging but mainly theoretical essay. He posits a ``postethnic'' perspective that emphasizes civic nationalism and builds on the strain of multiculturalism that favors voluntary affiliations over fixed identities. He tartly critiques the assumptions in the ``ethno-racial pentagon''-the five ethnic categories provided on most official forms-arguing that they are no proxy for diverse cultures and histories. Hollinger fears that some multiculturalists too easily disparage nationalist ``cultural adhesives'' such as E.D. Hirsch's ``cultural literacy'' project and suggests that common ground is needed to heal our nation. Thus he warns that if we don't ameliorate poverty, we will foster ``ethno-racial particularism.'' Still, he could have said more about how his ideas might play out in such applications as educational policy. (July)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Hollinger (history, U. of California, Berkeley) rejects the conventional liberal toleration of ethnic groups as preserving the European dominance, and the multiculturalist alternative as fragmentation into warring enclaves. He proposes instead cosmopolitanism, based not on biology but on consent and the right of everyone to emphasize or diminish the significance of their ethnic or racial affiliation. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Booknews