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"This remarkable book does the unusual: it embeds its focus in a larger complex operational space. The migrant, the refugee, the citizen, all emerge from that larger context. The focus is not the usual detailed examination of the subject herself, but that larger world of wars, grabs, contestations, and, importantly, the claimers and resisters."- Saskia Sassen, Professor of Sociology, Columbia University, USA
This thought-provoking book begins by looking at the incredible complexities of "American identity" and ends with the threats to civil liberties with the vast expansion of state power through technology. A must-read for anyone interested in the future of the promise and realities of citizenship in the modern global landscape.- Kevin R. Johnson, Dean, UC Davis School of Law, USA
Momen focuses on the basic paradox that has long marked national identity: the divide between liberal egalitarian self-conception and persistent practices of exclusion and subordination. The result is a thought-provoking text that is sure to be of interest to scholars and students of the American experience. - Aziz Rana, Professor of Law, Cornell Law School, USA
This book is an exploration of American citizenship, emphasizing the paradoxes that are contained, normalized, and strengthened by the gaps existing between proposed policies and real-life practices in multiple arenas of a citizen's life. The book considers the evolution of citizenship through the journey of the American nation and its identity, its complexities of racial exclusion, its transformations in response to domestic demands and geopolitical challenges, its changing values captured in immigration policies and practices, and finally its dynamics in terms of the shift in state power vis-à-vis citizens. While it aspires to analyze the meaning of citizenship in America from the multiple perspectives of history, politics, and policy, it pays special attention to the critical junctures where rhetoric and reality clash, allowing for the production of certain paradoxes that define citizenship rights and shape political discourse.
List of contents
1. Introduction.- 2. American Identity: Ideals vs. Illusion.- 3. Nation-building: Nation-States vs. Empire.- 4. World Relations: Hegemony vs. Globalization.- 5. Immigration: Becoming "Us" versus Remaining "Them".- 6. State Power: Technology vs. Technology.- 7. Conclusion.
About the author
Mehnaaz Momen is Associate Professor in the Department of Social Sciences at Texas A & M International University in Laredo, Texas, where she teaches courses in Political Science, Urban Studies, and Public Administration.
Summary
Fills a void in the scholarly discourse regarding the power struggle between the state and its citizens
Presents a narration of citizenship in American society interwoven between theory and real-life examples
Covers both contemporary demands (cosmopolitan identity and freedom from technological intrusion) and historical demands (individual freedom and group rights)
Additional text
“On the whole, the book is engagingly written and has much to commend it.” (Peter Kivisto, Journal of Citizenship and Globalisation Studies, Vol. 2(1), 2018)
Report
"On the whole, the book is engagingly written and has much to commend it." (Peter Kivisto, Journal of Citizenship and Globalisation Studies, Vol. 2(1), 2018)
