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Show Hinckley Journal of Politics Spring 2000 Who We Are: Constructivism and the Dual Personality of American Nationalism by Michael A. Thomas Constructivism, as an approach to the study of nationalism, best explains American identity as perceptions of ourselves and our destinies "constructed" or shaped through messages from various media. In America, various messages and myths based on ideas rather than ethnicity continually shape identity. Formation identity involves debate between competing liberal and civic ideologies. In addition, American national identity finds beginnings in religious imagery and linguistic commonality. Key American values such as equality receive lip service and then come under attack as forces attempt to define a uniform American identity in the name of cultural assimilation. Counterattacks come as multiculturalists see protection of liberty and individuality as key to American identity. Enigmatic, contradictory and continuously changing, American nationalism at times becomes a battle between extremes. Constructivism as an Approach to the Study of Nationalism >"rationalism is the embodiment of sovereignty, self' . determination and autonomy for groups. To the 1 extent that these ideals find translation into political reality, nations are born and destinies are forged. As an approach to studying nationalism, constructivism maintains that communities are formed with ideas, becoming a function of imagination and that identities continue to evolve over time with exposure to media influences. In other words, con-structivists believe that print media, technology and standardized language become building blocks for nationalism in an ever-impersonal society. In America, media images create constant evolution and metamorphosis of perceptions. As such, printed, broadcasted and spoken media become the battlefield for competing ideologies seeking to define American identity. Sometimes this bears electoral implications as in California's Proposition 187 during the 1994 election cycle. On the surface, American nationalism rejects notions of ethnic requirements for inclusion, although practice reveals that exclusion sometimes carries the day. Americans appreciate individual cultures, but believe that assimilation into one national culture requires relinquishment of foreign practices and ethnicity. Despite walking this tightrope between belief and action, American nationalism becomes an imagined "civic ethnicity" Michael A. Thomas is a recent Political Science graduate from the University of Utah. He is now a strident at the University of Oregon School of Law. best explained by constructivism. American identity finds a basis in competition between political ideas about roles of government, namely civic thought coupled with liberal ideology, belief in a national mission heavily influenced by religious symbols, and the battle of cultural uniformity with diversity. Political Ideas Defining American Identity American Identity Defined in Terms of Individual Rights and Responsibilities American identity rests on notions of freedom, rights, self-government and insuring equality of opportunity to pursue self-interest. Michael Barone believes that "the path of progress" involves finding nationalism that works to build "decent societies and a peaceful world," namely that of America (1993, 52). He states that American nationalism is far better than any other, because it has room for all the rest The definition of an American has proved through our history to be happily elastic: [A]nyone can belong. American-ness has as its source not a plot of ground [n]or a strand of genes, but a set of principles which assert the moral equality and human rights of every person (Barone 1993, 52). Jack Citrin, Ernst Haas, Christopher Muste and Beth Reingold agree that American identity rises from loyalty to ideas. They claim that, "in most countries, national identity is expressed in terms of common linguistic, religious, and racial characteristics, or what collectively we call ethnicity" (Citrin et al. 1994, 6). However, adding to Barone they state that American identity finds basis in ideas and beliefs. SI |
