Chosen Nation - Mennonites and Germany in a Global Era

During the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the global Mennonite church developed an uneasy relationship with Germany. Despite the religion's origins in the Swiss and Dutch Reformation, as well as its longstanding pacifism, tens of thousands of members embraced militarist German nationalism. Chosen Nation is a sweeping history of this encounter and the debates it sparked among parliaments, dictatorships, and congregations across Eurasia and the Americas. The first book to place Christianity and diaspora at the heart of nationality studies, Chosen Nation illuminates the rising religious nationalism of our own age.

About the author

Benjamin W. Goossen is a scholar of global religious history at Harvard University.

Summary

During the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the global Mennonite church developed an uneasy relationship with Germany. Despite the religion's origins in the Swiss and Dutch Reformation, as well as its longstanding pacifism, tens of thousands of members embraced militarist German nationalism. Chosen Nation is a sweeping history of this encounter

Additional text

"Goosen has written a balanced primer of a pious and insular community whose history, customs and values have yet to be discovered by most people."---Sheldon Kirshner, Sheldon Kirshner Journal

Report

"Chosen Nation is a remarkable exploration of the entangled histories of nationalism, race, and religion since the nineteenth century. Goossen tells the story of how Mennonites came to think of themselves as a German diasporic community in concert with the construction of the German nation. Based on stunning archival research, this is a beautifully written book."--Tara Zahra, author of The Great Departure: Mass Migration from Eastern Europe and the Making of the Free World

Product details

• Authors: Benjamin Goossen, Benjamin W. Goossen
• Publisher: Princeton University Press
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 09.05.2017
• EAN: 9780691174280
• ISBN: 978-0-691-17428-0
• No. of pages: 288
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > History > General, dictionaries; Non-fiction book > History > Miscellaneous; HISTORY / Europe / Germany, European History, Germany, HISTORY / Americas (North, Central, South, West Indies), HISTORY / World, RELIGION / Christianity / Mennonite, HISTORY / Latin America / General, Christianity, General & world history, Christian Churches & denominations, General and world history, Latin America – Mexico, Central America, South America, History of the Americas, The Americas, Relating to Amish / Mennonite people, Protestantism and Protestant Churches