Understanding American Identity

Understanding American Identity PDF Author: U. S. Military
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781717703781
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 90

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Book Description
Why are Americans' identity narratives important for national security? This thesis utilizes a qualitative approach to analyze American identity narratives in U.S. history and contemporary society. The historic disagreement over the distribution of the fundamental American value of liberty makes the possibility of a cohesive national identity challenging. Given the effects of globalization, advances in technology, and changes in traditional demographic and sociocultural trends, any form of a national-level, narrative-based identity is not a feasible means to unify Americans. Leaders must make domestic policy decisions that increase inclusiveness in American society and avoid valuing one identity over another. Policymakers must depart from divisive identity policies in favor of those that unify Americans. Any attempt to shape the existing conflict in terms of identity is contrary to a cohesive society and, more importantly, threatens national security. This research led to two policy recommendations. First, the United States must encourage separable identities and emphasize citizens as individuals rather than groups. Second, policymakers must promote "cross-cutting ties," since much of the division in the United States stems from the isolation from one another that many citizens experience. Revamped civic education and national service programs can serve to form those cross-cutting ties. I. INTRODUCTION * A. INTRODUCTION * B. WHY IDENTITY MATTERS * C. HOW AMERICANS DEFINE IDENTITY * D. RESEARCH APPROACH * E. THESIS ROADMAP * II. THE EVOLUTION OF AMERICAN IDENTITY * A. AMERICAN IDENTITY IN HISTORY: A COMPLEX TALE * B. THE IDENTITY DEBATE: A CRACK IN THE LIBERTY BELL * C. KEY MOMENTS IN THE EVOLUTION OF AMERICAN IDENTITY * 1. The Revolution * 2. The Civil War * 3. Women's Suffrage * 4. The Civil Rights Movement * D. CONCLUSION * III. AMERICA'S IDENTITY DYSPHORIA * A. GLOBALIZATION'S INFLUENCE * B. THE IMPACT OF TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCES * C. AMERICA'S PLACE IN THE WORLD * D. OTHER INFLUENCERS OF NATIONAL IDENTITY * 1. Nationalism * 2. Public Opinion * 3. Ethnicity * 4. Religion * 5. Class * 6. Political Division * 7. Culture Wars * 8. Identity Politics * E. CONCLUSION * IV. IDENTITY IN ROME AND THE U.S.S.R. * A. ROMAN IDENTITY * B. SOVIET IDENTITY * C. SUMMARY * V. THE WAY AHEAD * A. A COMMON PURPOSE: E PLURIBUS UNUM * B. THREE OBSTACLES TO UNITY * 1. Obstacle # 1: Assimilation and Acculturation * 2. Obstacle # 2: Subnational Identities * 3. Obstacle # 3: Subgroup Suppression * C. ONE SOLUTION: ONE NATIONAL IDENTITY-MANY INDIVIDUAL IDENTITIES * D. HOW TO GET THERE: PATRIOTIC BUILDING BLOCKS * 1. Civic Education * 2. National Service * VI. CONCLUDING THOUGHTS * A. TAKEAWAYS * B. AREAS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH * LIST OF REFERENCES * INITIAL DISTRIBUTION LIST

Understanding American Identity

Understanding American Identity PDF Author: U. S. Military
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781717703781
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 90

Get Book Here

Book Description
Why are Americans' identity narratives important for national security? This thesis utilizes a qualitative approach to analyze American identity narratives in U.S. history and contemporary society. The historic disagreement over the distribution of the fundamental American value of liberty makes the possibility of a cohesive national identity challenging. Given the effects of globalization, advances in technology, and changes in traditional demographic and sociocultural trends, any form of a national-level, narrative-based identity is not a feasible means to unify Americans. Leaders must make domestic policy decisions that increase inclusiveness in American society and avoid valuing one identity over another. Policymakers must depart from divisive identity policies in favor of those that unify Americans. Any attempt to shape the existing conflict in terms of identity is contrary to a cohesive society and, more importantly, threatens national security. This research led to two policy recommendations. First, the United States must encourage separable identities and emphasize citizens as individuals rather than groups. Second, policymakers must promote "cross-cutting ties," since much of the division in the United States stems from the isolation from one another that many citizens experience. Revamped civic education and national service programs can serve to form those cross-cutting ties. I. INTRODUCTION * A. INTRODUCTION * B. WHY IDENTITY MATTERS * C. HOW AMERICANS DEFINE IDENTITY * D. RESEARCH APPROACH * E. THESIS ROADMAP * II. THE EVOLUTION OF AMERICAN IDENTITY * A. AMERICAN IDENTITY IN HISTORY: A COMPLEX TALE * B. THE IDENTITY DEBATE: A CRACK IN THE LIBERTY BELL * C. KEY MOMENTS IN THE EVOLUTION OF AMERICAN IDENTITY * 1. The Revolution * 2. The Civil War * 3. Women's Suffrage * 4. The Civil Rights Movement * D. CONCLUSION * III. AMERICA'S IDENTITY DYSPHORIA * A. GLOBALIZATION'S INFLUENCE * B. THE IMPACT OF TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCES * C. AMERICA'S PLACE IN THE WORLD * D. OTHER INFLUENCERS OF NATIONAL IDENTITY * 1. Nationalism * 2. Public Opinion * 3. Ethnicity * 4. Religion * 5. Class * 6. Political Division * 7. Culture Wars * 8. Identity Politics * E. CONCLUSION * IV. IDENTITY IN ROME AND THE U.S.S.R. * A. ROMAN IDENTITY * B. SOVIET IDENTITY * C. SUMMARY * V. THE WAY AHEAD * A. A COMMON PURPOSE: E PLURIBUS UNUM * B. THREE OBSTACLES TO UNITY * 1. Obstacle # 1: Assimilation and Acculturation * 2. Obstacle # 2: Subnational Identities * 3. Obstacle # 3: Subgroup Suppression * C. ONE SOLUTION: ONE NATIONAL IDENTITY-MANY INDIVIDUAL IDENTITIES * D. HOW TO GET THERE: PATRIOTIC BUILDING BLOCKS * 1. Civic Education * 2. National Service * VI. CONCLUDING THOUGHTS * A. TAKEAWAYS * B. AREAS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH * LIST OF REFERENCES * INITIAL DISTRIBUTION LIST

The American Identity and Self-Understanding

The American Identity and Self-Understanding PDF Author: Christian Bacher
Publisher: GRIN Verlag
ISBN: 3638760731
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 29

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Book Description
Seminar paper from the year 2004 in the subject Business economics - Miscellaneous, grade: 1,0 (A), http: //www.uni-jena.de/ (Intercultural Economic Communications), course: Seminar: Goal Culture USA, language: English, abstract: The European awareness of America is based on old concepts and images. America was always seen as an "offspring" (PRISCHING 2003, S. 3) of Europe, so its perception is not focused on religious and political differences. The mistake within the European opinion is to underestimate the differences between Europe and America concerning the founding myths, the evolution of mentality, the economic and everyday culture and values and beliefs. But America keeps its own traditional attitude towards Europe as well. Besides mutual stereotypes and incongruent images there is a lack of awareness of semantic differences: In both cultures terms like moral good, justice or liberty look like the same but do not mean the same, although this obviously seems to be expected. To develop these expectations this paper aims to give a better understanding of the American identity by providing an overview of the background of American values - and answering the question: What is the American self? The first chapter defines basic terms, which are the prerequisites and tools for this paper, shows distinctness and examples of distinct American values. The second part tries to give insight into the origins, history and evolution - the 'where ... from?' - of the American identity by portraying the characteristics of selected American values. The last chapter will provide a conclusion on the current development of the American self-understanding and ideas about the future - the 'where to?' of the American self. But this 'identification' is based on my own - European or German - point of view as a part of the European or German 'collective mind', so that the following conclusions are not drawn on an objective selection of facts. This is an abstraction, neither I will not try

American Identity

American Identity PDF Author: Ryan Beiber
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Buildings
Languages : en
Pages : 137

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Book Description


Creating an American Identity

Creating an American Identity PDF Author: Stephanie Kermes
Publisher: Palgrave MacMillan
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 312

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Book Description
Creating an American Identity examines the relationship between regionalism and nationalism in New England between 1789 and 1825. During that period New Englanders and their neighbors in New York and Pennsylvania used trans-Atlantic symbols at the same time as a model and an antithesis in the creation of their own national identity. In inventing their collective identity, Northerners not only excluded Europeans, but also Southerners from their vision of America. Widely used visual representations of New England landscapes, virtues, and people created a strong loyalty to the region. Surprisingly, New Englanders utilized their regionalism to forge an American nationalism.

American Identities

American Identities PDF Author: Lois P. Rudnick
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 1405150092
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 384

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Book Description
American Identities is a dazzling array of primary documentsand critical essays culled from American history, literature,memoir, and popular culture that explore major currents and trendsin American history from 1945 to the present. Charts the rich multiplicity of American identities through thedifferent lenses of race, class, and gender, and shaped by commonhistorical social processes such as migration, families, work, andwar. Includes editorial introductions for the volume and for eachreading, and study questions for each selection. Enables students to engage in the history-making process whiledeveloping the skills crucial to interpreting rich and enduringcultural texts. Accompanied by an instructor's guide containing reading,viewing, and listening exercises, interview questions,bibliographies, time-lines, and sample excerpts of students' familyhistories for course use.

The Loneliest Americans

The Loneliest Americans PDF Author: Jay Caspian Kang
Publisher: Crown
ISBN: 0525576231
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 289

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Book Description
A “provocative and sweeping” (Time) blend of family history and original reportage that explores—and reimagines—Asian American identity in a Black and white world “[Kang’s] exploration of class and identity among Asian Americans will be talked about for years to come.”—Jennifer Szalai, The New York Times Book Review (Editors’ Choice) ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: Time, NPR, Mother Jones In 1965, a new immigration law lifted a century of restrictions against Asian immigrants to the United States. Nobody, including the lawmakers who passed the bill, expected it to transform the country’s demographics. But over the next four decades, millions arrived, including Jay Caspian Kang’s parents, grandparents, aunts, and uncles. They came with almost no understanding of their new home, much less the history of “Asian America” that was supposed to define them. The Loneliest Americans is the unforgettable story of Kang and his family as they move from a housing project in Cambridge to an idyllic college town in the South and eventually to the West Coast. Their story unfolds against the backdrop of a rapidly expanding Asian America, as millions more immigrants, many of them working-class or undocumented, stream into the country. At the same time, upwardly mobile urban professionals have struggled to reconcile their parents’ assimilationist goals with membership in a multicultural elite—all while trying to carve out a new kind of belonging for their own children, who are neither white nor truly “people of color.” Kang recognizes this existential loneliness in himself and in other Asian Americans who try to locate themselves in the country’s racial binary. There are the businessmen turning Flushing into a center of immigrant wealth; the casualties of the Los Angeles riots; the impoverished parents in New York City who believe that admission to the city’s exam schools is the only way out; the men’s right’s activists on Reddit ranting about intermarriage; and the handful of protesters who show up at Black Lives Matter rallies holding “Yellow Peril Supports Black Power” signs. Kang’s exquisitely crafted book brings these lonely parallel climbers together and calls for a new immigrant solidarity—one rooted not in bubble tea and elite college admissions but in the struggles of refugees and the working class.

Muslim American Youth

Muslim American Youth PDF Author: Selcuk R. Sirin
Publisher: NYU Press
ISBN: 0814740391
Category : Family & Relationships
Languages : en
Pages : 261

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Book Description
Muslim American Youth offers a critical conceptual framework to aid in understanding Muslim American identity formation processes, a framework which can also be applied to other groups of marginalized and immigrant youth. In addition, through their innovative data and analytic methods the authors provide an antidote to "qualitative vs. quantitative" arguments that have unnecessarily captured much time and energy in psychology and other behavioral sciences. Muslim American Youth provides a much-needed roadmap for those seeking to understand how Muslim youth and other groups of immigrant youth negotiate their identities as Americans.--Book jacket.

Who are We?

Who are We? PDF Author: Samuel P. Huntington
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780684866697
Category : Americanization
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
America was founded by settlers who brought with them a distinct culture including the English language, Protestant values, individualism, religious commitment, and respect for law. The waves of later immigrants came gradually accepted these values and assimilated into America's Anglo-Protestant culture. More recently, however, national identity has been eroded by the problems of assimilating massive numbers of immigrants, bilingualism, multiculturalism, the devaluation of citizenship, and the "denationalization" of American élites. September 11 brought a revival of American patriotism, but already there are signs that this is fading. This book shows the need for us to reassert the core values that make us Americans.--From publisher description.

Who Counts as an American?

Who Counts as an American? PDF Author: Elizabeth Theiss-Morse
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1139488910
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 241

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Book Description
Why is national identity such a potent force in people's lives? And is the force positive or negative? In this thoughtful and provocative book, Elizabeth Theiss-Morse develops a social theory of national identity and uses a national survey, focus groups, and experiments to answer these important questions in the American context. Her results show that the combination of group commitment and the setting of exclusive boundaries on the national group affects how people behave toward their fellow Americans. Strong identifiers care a great deal about their national group. They want to help and to be loyal to their fellow Americans. By limiting who counts as an American, though, these strong identifiers place serious limits on who benefits from their pro-group behavior. Help and loyalty are offered only to 'true Americans,' not Americans who do not count and who are pushed to the periphery of the national group.

African American Identity

African American Identity PDF Author: Jas M. Sullivan
Publisher: Lexington Books
ISBN: 0739171755
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 472

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Book Description
Jas M. Sullivan and Ashraf M. Esmail’s African American Identity: Racial and Cultural Dimensions of the Black Experience is a collection which makes use of multiple perspectives across the social sciences to address complex issues of race and identity. The contributors tackle questions about what African American racial identity means, how we may go about quantifying it, what the factors are in shaping identity development, and what effects racial identity has on psychological, political, educational, and health-related behavior. African American Identity aims to continue the conversation, rather than provide a beginning or an end. It is an in-depth study which uses quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods to explore the relationship between racial identity and psychological well-being, effects on parents and children, physical health, and related educational behavior. From these vantage points, Sullivan and Esmail provide a unique opportunity to further our understanding, extend our knowledge, and continue the debate.