The Fractious Nation?: Unity and Division in Contemporary American Life

Acknowledgments......Page 8
Introduction: The Fractious Nation?......Page 10
1 Getting a Fix on Fragmentation: “Breakdown” as Estimation Error ,Rhetorical Strategy, and Organizational Accomplishment......Page 22
Part I: Moral Unity, Moral Division......Page 64
2 The Fetish of Difference......Page 66
3 Fragments or Ties? The Defense of Difference......Page 76
4 The Myth of Culture War: The Disparity between Private Opinion and Public Politics......Page 88
5 America’s Jews: Highly Fragmented,Insufficiently Disputatious......Page 107
Part II: Refiguring the Boundaries of Citizenship Race,Immigr ation,and National Belonging......Page 124
6 Once Again, Strangers on Our Shores......Page 126
7 Expelling Newcomers: The Eclipse of Constitutional Community......Page 140
8 The United States in the World Community: The Limits of National Sovereignty......Page 152
9 “Who Cares Who Killed Roger Ackroyd?” Narrowing the Enduring Divisions of Race......Page 164
10 The Ambivalence of Citizenship: African-American Intellectuals in Search of Community......Page 179
Part III: Unity and Division in the Political Realm......Page 194
11 Social Provision and Civic Community: Beyond Fragmentation......Page 196
12 Stable Fragmentation in Multicultural America......Page 215
13 The Moral Compassion of True Conservatism......Page 226
14 Shaking Off the Past: Third Ways,Fourth Ways,and the Urgency of Politics......Page 234
Epilogue. Into the Unknown: Unity and Con•ict after September 1 1,2001......Page 257
Contributors......Page 288
Index......Page 292