Community Identity And Ideology

This collection of essays contextualizes the history and current state of the social science method in the study of the Hebrew Bible. Part 1 traces the rise of social science criticism by reprinting classic essays on the topic; Part 2 provides "case studies," examples of application of the methods to biblical studies.

This book interprets popular American belief and sentiment about cities, suburbs, and small towns in terms of community ideologies. Based on in-depth interviews with residents of American communities, it shows how people construct a sense of identity based on their communities, and how they perceive and explain community problems (e.g., why cities have more crime than their suburban and rural counterparts) in terms of this identity. Hummon reveals the changing role of place imagery in contemporary society and offers an interpretation of American culture by treating commonplaces of community belief in an uncommon way--as facets of competing community ideologies. He argues that by adopting such ideologies, people are able to "make sense" of reality and their place in the everyday world.

This book interprets popular American belief and sentiment about cities, suburbs, and small towns in terms of community ideologies. Based on in-depth interviews with residents of American communities, it shows how people construct a sense of identity based on their communities, and how they perceive and explain community problems (e.g., why cities have more crime than their suburban and rural counterparts) in terms of this identity. Hummon reveals the changing role of place imagery in contemporary society and offers an interpretation of American culture by treating commonplaces of community belief in an uncommon way—as facets of competing community ideologies. He argues that by adopting such ideologies, people are able to “make sense” of reality and their place in the everyday world.

This critical ethnographic school-based case study offers insights on the interaction between ideology and the identity development of individual English language learners in Singapore. Illustrated by case studies of the language learning experiences of five Asian immigrant students in an English-medium school in Singapore, the author examines how the immigrant students negotiated a standard English ideology and their discursive positioning over the course of the school year. Specifically, the study traces how the prevailing standard English ideology interacted in highly complex ways with their being positioned as high academic achievers to ultimately influence their learning of English. This potent combination of language ideologies and circulating ideologies created a designer student immigration complex. By framing this situation as a complex, the study problematizes the power of ideologies in shaping the trajectories and identities of language learners.

The context for this work is defined by a second wave of social and political activity contextualized by queer. For example, three, self-identified black, queer women started the Black Lives Matter movement. For a new generation, the first-wave reclamation of queer speaks to their position in a world that continues to marginalize and oppress, particularly sexually and gender fluid and non-normative people. Using empirical work carried out by the author, Queer Community describes queer-identified people, their intimate relationships, and how they are evolving as a unique community along politically-charged, ideological lines. Following an exploration of the history and context of ‘queer’ – including activism and the evolution of queer theory – this book examines how queer-identified people define the identity, with reference to ‘queer’ as a sexual moniker, gender moniker, and political ideology. Queer Community will appeal to scholars and students interested in sociology, queer theory, sexuality studies, gender studies, cultural studies, and contemporary social movements.

The inaugural volume of the new book series Radical Philosophy Today is an anthology of the best papers read at the 1996 Radical Philosophy Association conference. Divided into three sections--"The Production of Race and Ethnicity"; "Past, Present, and Future of Class Analysis"; and "Community Identity, Violence, and the Neoliberal State"--this important, topical collection focuses on the current interests of philosophers within a broad range of leftist orientations. Despite the intransigent nature of many of the problems discussed, the contributors to this volume demonstrate the possibilities for developing a viable alternative politics. Part one attempts to broaden and deepen discussions of race in philosophical terms, including a critical discussion of "whiteness." Part two critically examines Marxism with an eye toward adapting it more carefully to contemporary "First World" (U.S. society in particular) problems, and shows how Marxist analysis can be expanded to include spiritual and ecological considerations. The final section of the book looks at the radical potential of the communitarian critique of liberalism, discusses insidious violence in relation to the liberal state, and concludes with a critique of Francis Fukuyama's contention that neoliberalism is the only workable political state formation. The contributors include John Brentlinger, Frank Cunningham, Stephen Hartnett, Thomas M. Jeannot, Joel Kovel, Xiaorong Li, Steve Martinot, Charles W. Mills, Patrick Murray, Richard Peterson, Jeanne Schuler, Tony Smith, and Gabriel Vargas.

Despite profound disagreement on whether identities are essential or existential, primordial or constructed, singular or multiple, there is little dispute over whether identities exist or not. In this provocative study, Sinisa Malesevic interrogates the unproblematic use of concepts of identity, and in particular national or ethnic identity.

This volume is a study of the ideology of the Chronicler in the context of the emerging theocratic community of Judah in the Persian period. This study breaks new ground in treating the 'purpose' of Chronicles from an explicitly social-theoretical perspective. The first two chapters examine the relationship between biblical interpretation and ideological criticism, moving from the historical critical concept of 'purpose' to the hermeneutical issues of understanding, ideological distortion and critique. Subsequent chapters are devoted to three ideological critical readings of Chronicles focusing in succession on the identity of Israel, the legitimacy of Jerusalem and the construction of hierarchy. Care is taken throughout to define concepts clearly and to highlight the interpretive perspectives employed making this volume particularly useful for those engaged in methodological discussion.