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Widespread political polarization throughout the United States is a threat to the time‐honored democratic tradition of utilizing civil discussion and respectful debate to express divergent views and strive for common ground. The political differences that divide us now are so deep and rife with toxic emotion that they threaten to undermine our social well‐being at both the micro and macro levels. While family therapists are trained to work with relational tensions and to help family members to constructively negotiate their differences, the severity of the hostility and resentment tied to divergent political orientations has made this work increasingly difficult to achieve. This article explores how family therapy training programs can help trainees deepen their capacity for constructive political dialoguing that includes learning how to effectively manage their reactivity to those whose values and views may be dramatically different from their own so that they can support clients in doing the same. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

What fuels both enthusiasm for increasing "American" birth rates and fears about their decline? Citing the prevalence of fertility campaigns in authoritarian regimes characterized by ethno‐nationalist Christianity, we theorize that, in addition to patriarchal attitudes, perceived ethno‐cultural threat and desire for ethno‐cultural dominance substantially drive "nationalist pronatalism" (promoting fertility to strengthen "the nation" and avoid national decline). We expect pronatalist ideology focused on American births is associated with (1) belief that dominant cultural group members (Whites, Christians, men) are threatened and (2) White Christian nationalism—an ideology that looks to conform American identity and values to those of a traditionalist, ethnicized Christianity. Recent, nationally representative data reveal Christian nationalist ideology is the second strongest predictor of support for nationalist pronatalism, second only behind patriarchal attitudes. This association is stronger for men and virtually non‐existent among Blacks. The belief that Whites or Christians face "the most discrimination" as opposed to various minorities also predicts nationalist pronatalism. Contemporary support for pronatalist ideology focused on American births is thus undergirded not only by attitudes that subordinate women but also (1) an ethno‐racially contingent ideology that insists the United States should reflect and institutionalize traditionalist Christian culture and (2) perceptions that Christians and Whites are persecuted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most theoretical and empirical approaches to nationalism not only distinguish between ethnic and civic notions of national belonging but also differentiate national identity from national hubris, pride, and attachment. In this research note, we examine recently published research on nationalist sentiments in the United States that takes a different approach. The study in question, 'Varieties of American Popular Nationalism' by Bonikowski and DiMaggio (2016), has already become quite influential in the field and has the potential to change how we conceptualise and operationalise attitudes about the nation. In this research note, we revisit its analytical strategy and exploratory methods. We ask two questions. First, does this study allow us to draw conclusions about American nationalism? To answer this, we replicate the original model and then execute additional postestimation analyses, whose results undermine the study's main conclusions. Second, we investigate whether judicious revisions to the study's model generate results that would lead us to the article's same conclusions. The 385 additional models lend no support. Based on this evidence, we argue that the original study's conclusions stem from a misinterpretation of its latent class analysis (LCA), as our own analyses demonstrate that there is no empirical basis for its claims. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a move that some equate with a "turn to religion," state, regional, and international donors now all seek to partner with religious organizations to deliver international humanitarian aid. Evidence indicates, however, that this invitation is not always accepted. The United States serves as a prominent example. Although the United States went so far as to establish an office in USAID to facilitate coordination with faith‐based organizations in 2002, the number of religious organizations receiving USAID funds remains low. My research suggests that this is also true of faith‐based aid applications. An online survey of over 400 U.S.‐based nonprofits with international operations reveals that perceptions of government bias likely deter many religious NGOs in the United States from applying for government funds. While this explanation may be unique to the United States, it may also provide a testable hypothesis to scholars studying similar dynamics in other donor countries and organizations. Related Articles: Byrne, Jennifer, and Gregory C. Dixon. 2013. "Reevaluating American Attitudes toward Immigrants in the Twenty‐First Century: The Role of a Multicreedal National Identity." Politics & Policy 41 (1): 83‐116. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12002 Dobransky, Steve. 2014. "Violators amongst Us: International Regimes and the Role of Compliance, a Case Study on Official Development Assistance." Politics & Policy 42 (4): 593‐634. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12082 Persons, Georgia A. 2011. "Administrative Policy Initiatives and the Limits of Change: Lessons from the Implementation of the Bush Faith‐Based and Community Initiative." Politics & Policy 39 (6): 949‐978. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1747‐1346.2011.00332.x [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although the concept of homonationalism is still relatively new, it has already undergone substantial reformulation from its original conception. Moreover, the concept has been the subject of substantial debate. Originally formulated by Jasbir Puar specifically in a US context, the concept sought to capture the reciprocal relationship between LGBTQ + movements/identities and nationalism/imperialism. The concept has since expanded in scope both geographically and analytically, applied to contexts outside of the United States, and increasingly analyzed as a global, inescapable phenomenon. This expansion has been sharply criticized with arguments that the concept has been overextended. Such critiques argue that the extension of the concept's scope has limited homonormativity's utility both critically and analytically. In this article, we seek to outline how the concept is applied and used as well as the debates emerging from the concept—and from its reformulation in particular. We also identify areas where further clarity related to the concept is needed. Given the concept's complexity and multifaceted usage, we suggest that future research engage carefully in the debates sparked by its development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Numerous studies show biblicist Christianity, religiosity, and conservative political identity are strong predictors of Americans holding skeptical attitudes toward publicly controversial aspects of science, such as human evolution. We show that Christian nationalism—meaning the desire to see particularistic and exclusivist versions of Christian symbols, values, and policies enshrined as the established religion of the United States—is a strong and consistent predictor of Americans' attitudes about science above and beyond other religious and political characteristics. Further, a majority of the overall effect of political ideology on skepticism about the moral authority of science is mediated through Christian nationalism, indicating that political conservatives are more likely to be concerned with particular aspects of science primarily because they are more likely to be Christian nationalists. Likewise, substantial proportions of the well‐documented associations between religiosity and biblical "literalism" with views of science are mediated through Christian nationalism. Because Christian nationalism seeks to establish a particular and exclusivist vision of Christianity as the dominant moral order, adherents feel threatened by challenges to the epistemic authority undergirding that order, including by aspects of science perceived as challenging the supremacy of biblicist authority. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the inception of the United States, many of those who have spoken for and to the nation have struggled to define and defend a coherent American nationalism. This article proposes that one of the reasons for this lies in the fault lines inherent in the invented traditions that underpin American, as many other nationalisms. Determined by warfare and by the desire for land, and frequently defined in racial terms, they have undermined more than they have stabilized the nationalist structures they seek to support through what they have excluded from the national imaginary. In common with other settler nations, in fact arguably with most Western nations, America's nationalist narratives struggle to serve as cohesive foundation myths. They represent the lasting legacies of national trauma derived from the nation's violent colonial past and the severing of the imperial bond in the eighteenth century, chattel slavery, and the civil war it caused, and westward expansion and the imperative toward hemispheric control. Through the mapping of a topography of national trauma predicated on these national traditions and located within the tensions arising from warfare, land, and race, scholars can better comprehend the still frequently acrimonious debates over American nationalism that persist today. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Millennials are a powerful workforce group and are quickly becoming established business leaders, consumers, and investors. Yet, millennials are often described as a uniformly homogeneous generation, despite mounting evidence of variances across their private and workplace behaviors, attitudes and preferences, and personal values. This article examines the personal value orientations of millennials in the Unites States, reporting consistencies, variations, and contrasts based on a large sample drawn from seven diverse universities. Results of this article suggest more similarities across a national population of millennials than differences, suggesting a national identity among American millennials. Practical implications of our findings and future research are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Foreign place names reflecting the names of American hunter-conservationists and places mark the geography of Western Canada. This exogenous place naming dates to the 1930s when one of Canada's most successful NGOs-Ducks Unlimited Canada-launched 'The Lake that Waits' project. Emerging out of the Dust Bowl and declining waterfowl populations, the project combined geographical imagination, foreign toponyms, and ecological knowledge to incite American waterfowlers to invest in the rehabilitation of Canadian wetlands. It is insinuated that this renaming re-colonized in the name of nature conservation. When theorized within a postnational ecological and historical context, however, the use of foreign toponyms may be interpreted as a means to positively influence perceptions of identity and sense of place. It was a social construction of nature encouraging recognition of the shared ethical responsibilities of continental waterfowlers who needed to re-envision waterfowl migration within an ecological common-Duckland. Renaming was a means to effect both environmental and cultural change resulting in the conservation of millions of acres of waterfowl habitat, leaving an enduring mark on North American geography. Imaginer Canardia : le postnationalisme, la migration de la sauvagine et le collectif écologique Les toponymes étrangers inspirés des noms de chasseurs-écologistes américains et de lieux américains sont un trait caractéristique de la géographie de l'Ouest canadien. Cette façon exogène de désigner les lieux remonte aux années 1930, à l'époque du lancement du projet « The Lake that Waits » par Canards Illimités Canada. Le projet a débuté lors des années du Dust Bowl et du déclin important des populations de sauvagine. Il conjuguait l'imaginaire géographique, les toponymes étrangers et les savoirs écologiques afin d'inciter les sauvaginiers américains à investir dans la réhabilitation des milieux humides canadiens. Certains font allusion au fait que ces changements de nom représentent une forme de recolonisation. Toutefois, en prenant une perspective théorique postnationale, l'utilisation de toponymes étrangers serait alors vue comme un moyen d'influencer positivement les sentiments d'appartenance aux lieux. Il s'agissait d'une construction sociale de la nature qui favorise la reconnaissance du partage des responsabilités éthiques des sauvaginiers qui devaient réimaginer la migration de la sauvagine au sein d'un collectif écologique - Canardia. Grâce aux changements de toponymes, les conditions environnementales et culturelles ont pu évoluer, ce qui a permis de conserver des millions d'acres de l'habitat de la sauvagine et de laisser une marque durable sur la géographie nord-américaine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Because ritual is based on symbolism that takes intense sensory, enacted form, its features are well suited to children's cultural learning via sensorimotor engagement. An ethnographic study of US patriotic rituals at Memorial Day and Independence Day (July 4th), conducted during 2005-12, reveals how children participated and learned through sensoria and embodied experiences within these festival days. Public and private rituals evoked sense-linked metaphoric meanings that primed children for American values, including themes of militarism and freedom. Consistent with other researchers' findings regarding U.S. Passover seder, American Catholic First Communion, and the ritual enculturation of Sri Lankan child monks, young cultural members encounter ritual through embodied learning and sensoria and not necessarily via adult intentional instruction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the dynamic relationship between neoliberalism and nationalism through the counterintuitive comparison of journeys travelled by US citizens as they enlist in the military and by unauthorized Central Americans as they migrate to the United States. We argue that, however different the context and content of their decisions and their lives, Central American migrants and US soldiers are both connected within a larger political economy. We complicate the idea of migrants and soldiers as purely rational economic actors, but we also reject the idea, imputed onto migrants and soldiers by neoliberal states, that they are naturally nationalistic actors. Migrants and soldiers embody a neoliberal subjectivity produced through processes of violence, capital accumulation and militarization. Yet, as we examine throughout this paper, their construction as homeland heroes within the national imaginary masks the ways their labor and their mobility serve the institutionalization of neoliberal statecraft. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the Folk Linguistics agenda by making the case that nationalism comprises one ideological component to folk theories of language. The principle of nationalist diversity, the compulsion to maintain clear boundaries between nationalized things, appears prominently in at least two ways: (1) in response to dissonance between boundaries of nationalized space and nationalized language; and (2) in response to dissonance between the boundaries discerning one linguistic code from another. Both situations rely on individuals apprehending linguistic practices as nationalized icons. This argument will be developed through analytical consideration of four language complaints put forth by nonlinguists in multilingual encounters. This paper opens an underdeveloped area in Folk Linguistics, the study of folk ideologies in recognized border zones. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the gendered politics of dress and the rise of transnational Filipino student networks in the early twentieth century. In the context of empire, with Filipino students acting as representatives and defenders of their native land, everything from personal behaviour and dress to assessments of educational progress became fraught with political meaning. This article argues that Filipino students on both sides of the Pacific chose to enact their nationalism bodily. The self-conscious presentation of the body, including dress, was a crucial site of struggle over issues of national and personal autonomy. Ideas about nationalism and self-representation were debated in a transnational context, as Filipino students travelled back and forth over the Pacific, interpreting and constituting the colonial relationship along the way. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]