Abstract
As the white share of America continues to decline, white identity is becoming more important for politics. I show that white identity is considerably stronger among whites who are attached to their ancestry, i.e. Irish, ‘American’ or Italian. Accordingly, we should see it as more reflective of cultural attachment than a desire for politico-economic advantage. In addition, a separate dynamic I term ethno-traditional American nationalism, is important. This is not white nationalism, but a form of American national identity in which ethnocultural elements form an important part but do not, like the American accent, form a condition of equal national membership. Ethno-traditional nationalism is about the ‘what is American’ question of symbolic attachment, rather than the ‘who is American’ question of which groups belong and are excluded, that has received the lion’s share of academic attention.
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©2019 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Introduction – October 2019 Volume of Forum
- Articles
- White Identity and Ethno-Traditional Nationalism in Trump’s America
- Race, Evangelicals and Immigration
- The Political Meaning of Whiteness for Liberals and Conservatives
- White Consciousness and White Prejudice: Two Compounding Forces in Contemporary American Politics
- From Wedge Issue to Partisan Divide: The Development of Immigration Policy Opinion after 2016
- Lost in the Fog: Immigrants and Refugees, Bureaucrats and Activists
- Book reviews
- Review of Electoral Incentives in Congress
- Review of The Whips: Building Party Coalitions in Congress
- Review of Billionaires and Stealth Politics
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Introduction – October 2019 Volume of Forum
- Articles
- White Identity and Ethno-Traditional Nationalism in Trump’s America
- Race, Evangelicals and Immigration
- The Political Meaning of Whiteness for Liberals and Conservatives
- White Consciousness and White Prejudice: Two Compounding Forces in Contemporary American Politics
- From Wedge Issue to Partisan Divide: The Development of Immigration Policy Opinion after 2016
- Lost in the Fog: Immigrants and Refugees, Bureaucrats and Activists
- Book reviews
- Review of Electoral Incentives in Congress
- Review of The Whips: Building Party Coalitions in Congress
- Review of Billionaires and Stealth Politics