Postethnic America: Beyond Multiculturalism

by David A. Hollinger

Sympathetic with the new ethnic consciousness, Hollinger argues that the conventional liberal toleration of all established ethnic groups no longer works because it leaves unchallenged the prevailing imbalance of power. Yet the multiculturalist alternative does nothing to stop the fragmenting of American society into competing ethnic enclaves, each concerned primarily with its own well-being. Hollinger argues instead for a new cosmopolitanism, an appreciation of multiple identities -- new cross-cultural affiliations based not on the biologically given but on consent, on the right to emphasize or diminish the significance of one's ethnoracial affiliation. Postethnic America is a bracing reminder of America's universalist promise as a haven for all peoples. While recognizing the Eurocentric narrowness of that older universalism, Hollinger makes a stirring call for a new nationalism. He urges that a democratic nation-state like ours must help bridge the gap between our common fellowship as human beings and the great variety of ethnic and racial groups represented within the United States.

Genres: History, Sociology, 20th Century, Philosophy, Academic, American History, Ethnicity

312 pages, Paperback

First published June 19, 1995

About the author

Preston Hotchkis Professor of History (Emeritus)
University of California at Berkeley

One of the pre-eminent intellectual historians in and of the United States.

Past President of the Organization of American Historians (2010-2011); Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences; former Guggenheim Fellow, Fellow of the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, a Member of the Institute for Advanced Study, and Harmsworth Professor of the University of Oxford.

Reviews

[Pamela · Rating 4 out of 5]

I first approached this treatise with some skepticism—I'm suspicious of cultural theorists who coin increasingly vague vocabulary in order to discuss race and ethnicity ("ethno-racial blocs," you say?). Nevertheless, Hollinger presents a useful and accurate way of defining identity when one belongs to overlapping (and perhaps competing) communities. Interestingly, he does so by deconstructing the concept of identity, a practice I would find insufferable had I not read POSTETHNIC AMERICA all the way through. If you're a bit rusty on your ethnic studies, I'd recommend reading a chapter or two from this very lucid, relevant book.

[Bobby · Rating 3 out of 5]

Intelligent Essay

Not for everyone but for those who have an interest in ethnicity and culture, look no further. The author is a learned authority who has done an immense amount of research culminating in a most educational book.

[Akilah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Choose to read this for a course on Race and Ethnicity in the United States. Wasn't my favorite book, but had some interesting insights about the intersectionality of identity.

[Elena Spagnuolo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Noioso come pochi

[Miriam Borenstein · Rating 3 out of 5]

David Hollinger's Postethnic America is an examination of multiculturalism as an intellectual, cultural and activist pursuit among scholars of immigration and ethnicity in the postwar period. The primary thrust of his work is the application of scholarly vocabulary associated with the discussion of ethnicity, group division, and assimilation in the American landscape.
Hollinger laments that Horace Kallen's expression cultural pluralism never took off in scholarly debates of the early 20th century, and was unfortunately replaced by the deeply divided term multiculturalism. Multiculturalism, he argues, divided into two competing distinctions attempting to defend diversity: pluralism and cosmopolitanism. Pluralism views membership in ethnic or cultural groups as inherited (preservation of the group being paramount), whereas cosmopolitanism views membership as voluntary (choice of the individual being paramount). The postethnic perspective that Hollinger proposes advances the cosmopolitan view and denounces the pluralist view in favor of the choice of affiliation over a given identity. Where Hollinger departs from Kallen’s cultural pluralism is in the ability to challenge the right of one’s grandparent to determine one’s primary identity.
Perhaps hollingers most interesting addition to the scholarship on ethnicity is his discussion of choice and the ethnic-racial pentagon. Here he very well demonstrated the ways in which well intentioned scholarship attempting to defend diversity had, in fact, worked against it. An invention of affirmative action, the five distinctions in the pentagon were created to correct institutional injustice, but have, in fact, become a poor way to group together imaginary cultural distinctions. Hollinger calls this (reductively) the quintuple melting pot (white, African American, Hispanic, Asian American, and indigenous). Though this second chapter may be fabulously crafted, the second half of the book ignores a great deal of scholarship in the field that came before and should be considered. At one point Hollinger casually claims (as an aside) that white people have rarely been discriminated against or refused employment based on their ethnicity. Though this may be true if only in his quintuple-pot, he himself acknowledges the inadequacy of that model, and of the category of whiteness to encompass all Europeans, especially when such a great deal of scholarship on whiteness studies exists (he quotes Ignatieff at length in a later chapter).

[Amanda Smart · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ah, understanding "race." 'Postethnic' helps us recognize "race" as a historical construct, an ever-changing product of our time and place. Agree or disagree with Hollinger on the particulars (to be quite frank, I can't remember my position on the book's argument), his book is definitely thought-provoking and progressive.

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

The main thesis here is that ethnicity in the US has become a choice. While this is obviously not true for a variety of reasons, the argument is thought provoking. This was written long before Barack Obama's bid for the presidency, but one could view him as an example of an American who refused to allow others to define him and chose to be an African-American who emphasizes the word "American."

[Jaime · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a groundbreaking book that puts forth the concept of self-identification and 21st century diversity. This book chalenges th old ethno-racial pentagon of classification of the peoples of the world.

[Tori]

Postethnic America: Beyond Multiculturalism by David A. Hollinger (2000)

[Jim Swike · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good essay on multicultural America. Enjoy!