The Disunity Of American Culture

The Disunity of American Culture describes culture now, when different forces are influencing it than in the past, altering it to near incomprehensibility. Identity issues have an effect on culture and politics; more influential is the question of what support the state is obligated to provide the individual. John C. Caiazza seeks to explain how this situation came to be.He begins with an explanation of the origins of Protestantism in America. Caiazza describes how the American religion has declined and the recent responses the decline has provoked. Caiazza follows with an analysis of science as it presently exists in American culture. The work of three scientists prominent in their respective fields—Steven Weinberg in physics, E. O. Wilson in biology, and Stanley Milgram in psychology—are examined with respect to how their work has influenced culture.The author examines the failure of America's school of philosophy, pragmatism, to explain the relationship between religion, science, and general culture, even though its founders, Charles S. Peirce and William James, made serious efforts to do so. He concludes by making the case that there is a contradiction between scientific reason and the claim of state power. Caiazza argues that cultural disharmony will guarantee that the secular state never achieves the dominance over culture and political life it desires.

Despite Jesus' prayer that all Christians "be one," divisions have been epidemic in the body of Christ. Though we may think we know why this happens, Christena Cleveland says we probably don't. Learn the hidden reasons behind conflict and divisions, the unseen dynamics at work that tend to separate us from others. Here are the tools we need to build bridges.

This timely revision of one of the classic books in Canadian political studies, originally published in 1979, examines two questions: Will the Canadian federal system fall apart little more than a century after Confederation? Or can its problems of disunity be solved by good intentions with skillful diplomacy? In light of the swelling militancy in Quebec, and key events of the 1980s, Bell has updated his acclaimed reading of Canada's unique political culture by examining some of the important issues involved, including immigration, multiculturalism, the "two nations" concept, the growing sense of independence of Canada's western provinces, and the incursion of American industry and culture into Canada.

These days, theres no dirtier word than divisive, especially in religious and political circles. Claiming a controversial opinion, talking about our differences, even sharing our doubts can be seen as threatening to the goal of unity. But what if unity shouldnt be our goal? In Holy Disunity: How What Separates Us Can Save Us, Layton E. Williams proposes that our primary calling as humans is not to create unity but rather to seek authentic relationship with God, ourselves, one another, and the world around us. And that means actively engaging those with whom we disagree. Our religious, political, social, and cultural differences can create doubt and tension, but disunity also provides surprising gifts of perspective and grace. By analyzing conflict and rifts in both modern culture and Scripture, Williams explores how our disagreements and differencesour disunitycan ultimately redeem us.

Less than a year before two planes slammed into the World Trade Center, the 2000 presidential election produced not just the blue-and-red electoral map but also revealed the fractured nation that those totemic colors represent. And from the cultural wars to immigration restriction, from the Christian right to political correctness, recent decades have witnessed much hand-wringing on the left and the right about the fragmentation of American life. The Fractious Nation? enlists the critical intelligence of fourteen distinguished contributors who illuminate the schisms in American life and the often volatile debates they have inspired in the realms of culture, ethnic and racial pluralism, and political life. "This collection of essays offers a bracing challenge to widely held beliefs about cultural and political fragmentation in the United States today. The Fractious Nation? may well change the debate on issues ranging from multiculturalism and race relations to governance and public philosophy."--William A. Galston, author of Liberal Purposes: Goods, Virtues, and Diversity on the Liberal State "The virtue of this stunning collection of essays is the shrewd moderation of its authors, who explain that while we in the United States have serious social conflict, we also have the intellectual resources to address it. Most of all, The Fractious Nation, whose contributors embrace very different political approaches, reminds us that we must struggle to understand what constitutes nationhood in this difficult century."--Stanley N. Katz, professor, Woodrow Wilson School, and director of Center for Arts and Cultural Policy Studies, Princeton University "With an all-star team of contributors, this volume explores the many ways that fear of fragmentation plagues the American psyche today and provides the kind of understanding that allows us to overcome such fears. The breadth of talent assembled between the covers of this book is simply awesome."--Robert Suro, author of Strangers among Us: Latino Lives in a Changing America "This is an accessibly written and valuable collection by outstanding social scientists addressed to the broad question of whether the United States is experiencing or headed for a 'culture war.'"--R. Stephen Warner, author of New Wine in Old Wineskins: Evangelicals and Liberals in a Small-Town Church "This is an exceptionally well-focused collection of up-to-date, analytical reflections on several of the most pressing issues in American political culture today, written by some of our most discerning scholars and journalists."--David A. Hollinger, author of Postethnic America: Beyond Multiculturalism

Approaches to American Cultural Studies provides an accessible yet comprehensive overview of the diverse range of subjects encompassed within American Studies, familiarising students with the history and shape of American Studies as an academic subject as well as its key theories, methods, and concepts. Written and edited by an international team of authors based primarily in Europe, the book is divided into four thematically-organised sections. The first part delineates the evolution of American Studies over the course of the twentieth century, the second elaborates on how American Studies as a field is positioned within the wider humanities, and the third inspects and deconstructs popular tropes such as myths of the West, the self-made man, Manifest Destiny, and representations of the President of the United States. The fourth part introduces theories of society such as structuralism and deconstruction, queer and transgender theories, border and hemispheric studies, and critical race theory that are particularly influential within American Studies. This book is supplemented by a companion website offering further material for study (www.routledge.com/cw/dallmann). Specifically designed for use on courses across Europe, it is a clear and engaging introductory text for students of American culture.

This sumptuous and stunningly illustrated book shows through words and images how directly, profoundly, and indisputably modern science has transformed modern art. Beginning in the mid-nineteenth century, a strange and exciting new world came into focus--a world of microorganisms in myriad shapes and colors, prehistoric fossils, bizarre undersea creatures, spectrums of light and sound, molecules of water, and atomic particles. Exploring the Invisible reveals that the world beyond the naked eye--made visible by advances in science--has been a major inspiration for artists ever since, influencing the subjects they choose as well as their techniques and modes of representation. Lynn Gamwell traces the evolution of abstract art through several waves, beginning with Romanticism. She shows how new windows into telescopic and microscopic realms--combined with the growing explanatory importance of mathematics and new definitions of beauty derived from science--broadly and profoundly influenced Western art. Art increasingly reflected our more complex understanding of reality through increasing abstraction. For example, a German physiologist's famous demonstration that color is not in the world but in the mind influenced Monet's revolutionary painting with light. As the first wave of enthusiasm for science crested, abstract art emerged in Brussels and Munich. By 1914, it could be found from Moscow to Paris. Throughout the book are beautiful images from both science and art--some well known, others rare--that reveal the scientific sources mined by Impressionist and Symbolist painters, Art Nouveau sculptors and architects, Cubists, and other nineteenth- and twentieth-century artists. With a foreword by astronomer Neil deGrasse Tyson, Exploring the Invisible appears in an age when both artists and scientists are exploring the deepest meanings of life, consciousness, and the universe.

Multiculturalism in the South is more than black and white, as this collection of essays shows. Cultural Diversity in the U.S. South examines the often overlooked histories of various immigrants who settled in the South, their relations with one another, and their enormous impact on the region. From Native Americans to Latinos, from Indochinese to Jews, this volume follows minority immigration from its early history into the current era of globalization of the South. Cultural Diversity in the U.S. South provides the most in-depth analysis yet written about the political, social, and economic conditions of the many different ethnic groups and offers fresh explanations to the questions concerning why some have become powerful voices in southern society more quickly than others.