Racial Discrimination, 1870 - 1940 (Third Republic) - French History, France - Political Biography, 20th Century French History - Fourth & Fifth Republics, 1944 to Present, European Studies - France, 20th Century French History - World War II & Vichy Gove

Nations Without Nationalism

Name: Nations Without Nationalism
Author: Julia Kristeva
ISBN: 9780231081047

by Julia Kristeva, Lawrence D. Kritzman (Editor), Leon S. Roudiez

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Overview

Underlying Julia Kristeva's latest work is the idea that otherness - whether it be ethnic, religious, social, or political - needs to be understood and accepted in order to guarantee social harmony. Nations Without Nationalism is an impassioned plea for tolerance and for commonality, aimed at a world brimming over with racism and xenophobia. Responding to the rise of neo-Nazi groups in Germany and Eastern Europe and the continued popularity of the National Front in France, Kristeva turns to the origins of the nation-state to illustrate the problematic nature of nationalism and its complex configurations in subsequent centuries. For Kristeva, the key to commonality can be found in Montesquieu's esprit general - his notion of the social body as a guaranteed hierarchy of private rights. Nations Without Nationalism also contains Kristeva's thoughts on Harlem Desir, the founder of the antiracist organization SOS Racisme; the links between psychoanalysis and nationalism; the historical nature of French national identity; the relationship between esprit general and Volksgeist; Charles de Gaulle's complex ideas involving the "nation" and his dream of a unified Europe. In the tradition of Strangers to Ourselves, her most recent nonfiction work, Nations Without Nationalism reflects a passionate commitment to enlightenment and social justice. As ethnic strife persists in Europe and the United States, Kristeva's humanistic message carries with it a special resonance and urgency.

Synopsis

Kristeva points to Montesquieu's esprit général — his notion of the social body as a guaranteed hierarchy of private rights — in this humanistic plea for tolerance and commonality.

Times Literary Supplement

Reflections of 'self', 'otherness', 'identity', 'values', and other abstractions.

About the Author, Julia Kristeva

Julia Kristeva, internationally known psychoanalyst and critic, is Professor of Linguistics at the University de Paris VII. She has hosted a French television series and is the author of many critically acclaimed books published by Columbia University Press in translation, including Time and Sense: Proust and the Experience of Literature and the novel, Possessions.

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Editorials

Toril Moi

Bringing together the national and the cosmopolitan, Julia Kristeva makes the case for a commitment to a new universalism which recognizes that we are all strangers to each other. This is an important contribution to recent debates concerning race, nationalism, and identity.