Being American (Politics of Identity – XI 1 )

‘Being American’ is a two-sided identity called ‘citizenship’. This involves a set (the state) and its members (citizens). The citizen (say Whitman) may be ‘fully’ American, just as some particular nation (say Native American, African, British, Jewish) may be so. But no one citizen (the patriot), or...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Government and opposition (London) 2007, Vol.42 (4), p.593-625
Main Author: King, Preston
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Africa
American Indians
Citizens
Citizenship
Constitutionalism
Constitutions
Ethnic Groups
Ethnicity
Freedom
Identity
Identity Politics
Individualism
Justice
Language
National Identity
Patriotism
Political ideas
Political science
Politics
U.S.A
United States of America
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Summary:‘Being American’ is a two-sided identity called ‘citizenship’. This involves a set (the state) and its members (citizens). The citizen (say Whitman) may be ‘fully’ American, just as some particular nation (say Native American, African, British, Jewish) may be so. But no one citizen (the patriot), or subset of citizens (perhaps the ethnic group), nor even the set of all citizens (past and present) reflects or symbolizes the whole of what ‘being American’ might mean. Nor can we reduce America's multitudes, and multitudinous practices, to one thickset/hotfoot Creed producing the sexy ‘American’/‘Un-American’ binary. Being American hangs upon a paramount constitutionalism that coolly reconciles, without melting, underlying identities. ‘Constitutionalism’ is informed by some abstract notion of justice, is grounded in mutual regard and equal liberty, and mere possession of ‘a constitution’ does not suffice to deliver it.
ISSN:0017-257X
1477-7053
DOI:10.1111/j.1477-7053.2007.00237.x