European University Institute Library

The mortality and morality of nations, Uriel Abulof, Princeton University and Tel-Aviv University

eng

Includes bibliographical references and index

illustrations

index present

non fiction

The mortality and morality of nations

bibliography

908311118

Uriel Abulof, Princeton University and Tel-Aviv University

Standing at the edge of life's abyss, we seek meaningful order. We commonly find this 'symbolic immortality' in religion, civilization, state and nation. What happens, however, when the nation itself appears mortal? The Mortality and Morality of Nation seeks to answer this question, theoretically and empirically. It argues that mortality makes morality, and right makes might; the nation's sense of a looming abyss informs its quest for a higher moral ground, which, if reached, can bolster its vitality. The book investigates nationalism's promise of moral immortality and its limitations via three case studies: French Canadians, Israeli Jews, and Afrikaners. All three have been insecure about the validity of their identity or the viability of their polity, or both. They have sought partial redress in existential self-legitimation: by the nation, of the nation and for the nation's very existence.--, Provided by Publisher

Part I. Introduction -- Theory -- Case studies -- Part II. Theory -- Meaning -- Mortality -- Morality -- Liberty -- Language -- Part III. The French Canadians -- The "Canadiens": the emergence of an endangered ethnie -- The French Canadians: the rise and demise of ethno-religionism -- The Québécois: the rise and demise of ethnonationalism -- Part IV. Jews and Zionists -- Ontological insecurity: Jewish identity in modernity -- Epistemic insecurity: Jewish and Zionist survival in question -- Existential threats: Zionism's "holes in the net" -- Existential threads: the lifelines of Zionism -- Part V. The Afrikaners -- Ontological insecurity: the birth of the Afrikaner ethnie -- Epistemic insecurity: Afrikaner survival in question -- Existential threats: Afrikanerdom's "holes in the net" -- Existential threads: the lifelines of Afrikanerdom -- The twilight of Apartheid and its aftermath -- Conclusion

Mortality & morality of nations