Political/Cultural Identity

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P W Preston - University of Birmingham, UK

Other Titles in:
International Relations (General) | Politics (General) | Sociology (General)

July 1997 | 208 pages | SAGE Publications Ltd

This interdisciplinary book overviews political and cultural identity in the context of changes across the political landscape. These changes - from the fall of the Berlin Wall to the recent Islamic revival - have profoundly altered the received ideas that define political cultures throughout the world. In this context the author draws together the diverse strands of literature to throw light on the impact on identity of a changing global environment.

Peter Preston analyzes political, cultural and economic identities which lie at the centre of individual actions and social structure. This analysis is fleshed out by a detailed examination of specific regional cases, including: the realignment of Europe; the sharp rise of Pacific Asia; and the Americas after NAFTA.

An Introduction to the Problem

The Received Notions of Identity

An Ethnographic/Biographical Approach to Identity

The Idea of Political-Cultural Identity

Global Changes and New Political-Cultural Identities

Changing Political-Cultural Identities in Europe

Changing Political-Cultural Identities in the USA

Changing Political-Cultural Identities in Pacific Asia

Locale, Network and Memory

`A tighly argued examination of the role of identities in contemporary global politics... the book confirms the growing importance of identity issues in IR' - International Affairs

`Political/Cultural Identity is impressive in both its scope and its range. It provides not only an innovative contribution to our understanding of collective identities, but also an authoritative survey of contemporary global change' - Kevin Robins, University of Newcastle