Nationalism is back in the news. 2016 was a hinge moment. Brexit in the United Kingdom, combined with the Trump and Sanders insurgencies in the United States, focused attention on populism and evolving notions of national identity. Â
What does nationalism mean in our time? Is American nationalism a distinct variant? Is there a meaningful difference between patriotism and nationalism?
In this episode of the Serve to Lead Podcast, author Samuel Goldman discusses his timely and wide-ranging new book, After Nationalism: Being American in an Age of Division. Goldman sees three predominant, successive tendencies in American history: covenantal (referring to our Puritan heritage), crucible (post-Civil War), and creedal (post-World War II, Cold War). Going forward, Goldman concludes that forging a comprehensive national identity will be elusive in our nation of 330 million. As an alternative, he advocates creation of solidarity through local community action and activism—emerging from the bottom-up, rather than the top-down.
Samuel Goldman is executive director of the John L. Loeb, Jr. Institute for Religious Freedom and director of the Politics & Values Program. His first book, God’s Country: Christian Zionism in America was published by the University of Pennsylvania Press in 2018. In addition to his academic research, Goldman is literary editor of Modern Age: A Conservative Quarterly and a contributing editor at The American Conservative. His writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and many other publications.
Image: George Washington University
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