Negotiating National Identities presents an empirically detailed and theoretically wide-ranging analysis of the complex political and cultural struggles taking place in contemporary Europe. Taking contemporary Austria and her controversial identity politics as its central case study in a discussion of developments across a variety of national and pan-European contexts, this book demonstrates that neo-nationalism has been one among several competing reactions to the processes and challenges of globalization, whilst inclusive notions of identity and belonging are shown to have emerged from the realms of civil society and cultural production. Shifting the study of national identities from the party-political to the social, cultural and economic realms, this book raises important questions of human rights, social exclusion and ideological struggle in a globalizing era, drawing attention to the contested nature of European politics and civil societies, in which existing configurations of power and exclusion are both reproduced and challenged. As such, it will be of interest to anyone working in the fields of race and ethnicity, national identity and media and cultural studies.
Writing History, Constructing Religion presents a much-needed interdisciplinary exploration of the significance of debates among historians, scholars of religion and cultural theorists over the 'nature' of history to the study of religion. The distinguished authors discuss issues related to definitions of history, postmodernism, critical theory, and the impact on the study and analysis of religious traditions; exploring the application of writing 'history from below', discussions of 'truth' and 'objectivity' as opposed to power and ideology, crises of representation, and the place of theory in the 'historicized' study of religion(s). Addressing conceptual debates in a wide range of historical and empirical contexts, the authors critically engage with issues including religious nationalism, Nazism, Islam and the West, secularism, religion in post-Communist Russia, ethnicity and post modernity. This book constitutes a significant step towards the self-reflexive and interdisciplinary study of religions in history.
Negotiating National Identities presents an empirically detailed and theoretically wide-ranging analysis of the complex political and cultural struggles taking place in contemporary Europe. Taking contemporary Austria and her controversial identity politics as its central case study in a discussion of developments across a variety of national and pan-European contexts, this book demonstrates that neo-nationalism has been one among several competing reactions to the processes and challenges of globalization, whilst inclusive notions of identity and belonging are shown to have emerged from the realms of civil society and cultural production. Shifting the study of national identities from the party-political to the social, cultural and economic realms, this book raises important questions of human rights, social exclusion and ideological struggle in a globalizing era, drawing attention to the contested nature of European politics and civil societies, in which existing configurations of power and exclusion are both reproduced and challenged. As such, it will be of interest to anyone working in the fields of race and ethnicity, national identity and media and cultural studies.
Exploring the similarities and differences between and across masculinities in the Middle East and the West, Postcolonial Masculinities avoids the constant reinforcement of divisions and stereotypes created by the process of 'othering' and the problematic discourse of the clash of civilisations, examining instead how subjectivities in Western and Arab societies are intertwined, operating through envy of the other and the desire to be at once the same and yet fundamentally separate. With a focus on England and Egypt, this book reveals the manner in which masculinities are shaped in and through a history of colonialism and postcolonialism, irrespective of colour, ethnicity, religion, class, sexuality, or the wishes of the individual. By concentrating on the shared ground of postcolonial, masculine subjectivities, Postcolonial Masculinities looks beyond the dissonance often iterated between the apparently rational Western man and the apparently oppressive, patriarchal Middle Eastern man. Shedding light on the shared and distinctive aspects of masculinities across the Middle East and the West, whilst illuminating the influences upon them, this book will appeal to social scientists with interests in cultural studies, masculinities, psychoanalytic theory, gender and sexuality, and colonialism and postcolonialism.
Exploring the debate within social sciences on the consequences of ethnic diversity for social cohesion and the production of public goods, this book draws on extensive survey data from Germany to engage with questions surrounding the relationship between ethnic diversity and issues such as welfare provision and the erosion of public trust and civic engagement in Europe. It moves away from the question of whether there is in fact a universal correlation between ethnic diversity and social cohesion in order to focus on the reasons for which people's reciprocity and trust might be reduced in more ethnically diverse areas. Drawing attention to the importance of peoples' perceptions of diversity in explaining levels of social cohesion, Ethnic Diversity and Social Cohesion shows how specific types of perceived diversity can help explain the reasons for which ethnic diversity is associated with declines in social cohesion, and the contexts and conditions in which this occurs. The book also outlines potential courses of action, revealing the important roles of residential segregation, children and interethnic partners in overcoming barriers of language, values and cognitive bias. A rigorous, timely study of ethnic diversity and its relation to liberal democracy as a form of deliberative conflict that requires certain levels of trust, shared values and engagement, Ethnic Diversity and Social Cohesion will be of interest to policy makers, sociologists and political scientists working in the fields of race and migration, ethnic diversity and community cohesion.
Intergroup friendships and marriages are regarded as the most important indicators of immigrants’ social integration, as they represent the most intimate ties that can exist between minority and majority group members. Drawing on unique, large-scale, cross-national survey data, encompassing natives as well as Turkish, Moroccan, Pakistani and ex-Yugoslav migrants across several Western European countries, this book offers extensive analyses of intermarriage, as well as attitudes towards intermarriage and intergroup dating in general. Conceptualising the willingness or otherwise to marry outside one’s ethnic or religious group in terms of social distance, Social Integration and Intermarriage in Europe provides new evidence that different conceptions of family life, gender relations and religiosity are crucial for understanding why individuals can be reluctant to engage in intergroup relationships. With attention to the question of the role played by state policies in explaining immigrant social integration, the book explores differences across Western Europe and the ways in which each state regulates immigration and the accommodation of Islam. A detailed and rigorous study of attitudes to intermarriage, social integration and the role of the state, Social Integration and Intermarriage in Europe will appeal to policy makers and scholars of within the social sciences, with interests in migration, interethnic relations and social integration.
Inside Immigration Law analyses the practice of implementing immigration law, examining the different political and organisational forces that influence the process. Based on unparalleled academic access to the German migration management system, this book provides new insights into the ‘black box’ of regulating immigration, revealing how the application of immigration law to individual cases can be chaotic, improvised and sometimes arbitrary, and either informed or distorted by the complex, politically laden and changeable nature of both German and EU immigration laws. Drawing on extensive empirical material, including participant observation, interviews and analyses of public as well as confidential documents in German immigration offices, Inside Immigration Law unveils the complex practices of decision-making and work organisation in a politically contested environment. A comparative, critical evaluation of the work of offices that examines the discretion and client interactions of bureaucrats, the management of legal knowledge and symbolism and the relationships between immigration offices and external political forces, this book will be of interest to sociologists, legal scholars and political scientists working in the areas of migration, integration and the study of work and organisations.
SMERSH is the award-winning account of the top-secret counterintelligence organisation that dealt with Stalin's enemies from within the shadowy recesses of Soviet government. As James Bond's nemesis in Ian Fleming's novels, SMERSH and its operatives were depicted in exotic duels with 007, rather than fostering the bleak oppression and terror they actually spread in the name of their dictator. Stalin drew a veil of secrecy over SMERSH's operations in 1946, but that did not stop him using it to terrify Red Army dissenters in Leningrad and Moscow, or to abduct and execute suspected spooks - often without cause - across mainland Europe. Formed to mop up Nazi spy rings at the end of the Second World War, SMERSH gained its name from a combination of the Russian words for 'Death to Spies'. Successive Communist governments suppressed traces of Stalin's political hit squad; now Vadim Birstein lays bare the surgical brutality with which it exerted its influence as part of the paranoid regime, both within the Soviet Union and in the wider world. SMERSH was the most mysterious and secret of organisations - this definitive and magisterial history finally reveals truths that lay buried for nearly fifty years.
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