Overview
- Presents a ground-breaking theory of national solidarity combined with in-depth case studies that reveal how micro-level mechanisms of public intimacy foster national attachment
- Combines classical and recent developments in several sub-fields including studies of nationalism and community building, cultural sociology, research on civil sphere and civic action, media studies, sociology of emotions and politics of friendship
- Offers a new and highly original contribution to an important and ever-relevant discussion about the building blocks of national identity and solidarity
Part of the book series: Cultural Sociology (CULTSOC)
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Table of contents (10 chapters)
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Front Matter
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Concluding Thoughts
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Front Matter
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Back Matter
Keywords
About this book
When strangers meet in social clubs, watch reality television, or interact on Facebook, they contribute to the social glue of mass society—not because they promote civic engagement or democracy, but because they enact the sacred promise of friendship. Where most theories of nationalism focus on issues of collective identity formation, Kaplan’s novel framework turns attention to compatriots’ experience of solidarity and how it builds on interpersonal ties and performances of public intimacy. Combining critical analyses of contemporary theories of nationalism, civil society, and politics of friendship with in-depth empirical case studies of social club sociability, Kaplan ultimately shows that strangers-turned-friends acquire symbolic, male-centered meaning and generate feelings of national solidarity.
Reviews
“The book will be attractive not only to sociologists and scholars of nationalism but also to those who are interested in the political implications of performances of public intimacy and in the formation of a civic space.” (Hizky Shoham, Nations and Nationalism, Vol. 26 (1), 2020)
“As Danny Kaplan shows in this important book, the centrality of sociability and solidarity to the life of modern nations is a crucial dimension in how nations figure in both politics and public life. Moreover, the ways nations figure in personal life shapes both their power and how nationalists mobilize followers.” (Craig Calhoun, President of the Berggruen Institute and Centennial Professor of Sociology, London School of Economics, UK)
“A vital contribution for those who believe that nationalism and patriotism grow out of the commitments made in interaction. States are not only structures, but, as Kaplan persuasively demonstrates, they are arenas of action. While an important theoretical advance in itself, his detailed analysis of scenes as diverse as Freemasonry, military friendships, and the show Big Brother demonstrate how friendship is a building block for patriotism and communal affiliation.” (Gary Alan Fine, Northwestern University, USA, and author of Tiny Publics)
“This excellent book challenges the often vague identity-centered analyses of large-scale national formations and demonstrates convincingly that macro-level social cohesion regularly entails prolonged micro-interactional work. Danny Kaplan’s novel concept of ‘social club sociability’ is a major contribution to the study of nationalism.” (Siniša Malešević, University College Dublin, Ireland, and author of Nation-States and Nationalisms)
Authors and Affiliations
About the author
Danny Kaplan is Professor in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology and directs the Men Studies center at the Gender Program at Bar Ilan University, Israel. Kaplan specializes in the study of solidarity through the prism of friendship and mediated sociability. He is the author of The Men We Loved: Male Friendship and Nationalism in Israeli Culture (2006).
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: The Nation and the Promise of Friendship
Book Subtitle: Building Solidarity through Sociability
Authors: Danny Kaplan
Series Title: Cultural Sociology
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-78402-1
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan Cham
eBook Packages: Social Sciences, Social Sciences (R0)
Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2018
Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-319-78401-4Published: 18 April 2018
Softcover ISBN: 978-3-030-08693-0Published: 14 December 2018
eBook ISBN: 978-3-319-78402-1Published: 10 April 2018
Series ISSN: 2946-3572
Series E-ISSN: 2946-3580
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: XV, 227
Topics: Sociology of Culture, Sociology of Citizenship, Citizenship, Political Sociology, Media and Communication, Ethnography