Culture and Belonging in Divided Societies : : Contestation and Symbolic Landscapes / / ed. by Marc Howard Ross.

• Superior document: Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter Penn Press eBook Package Complete Collection
• MitwirkendeR: Bryan, Dominic,; Cartrite, Britt,; Davis, Richard H.,; Johnson, Greg,; Kibler, M. Alison,; Linenthal, Edward T.,; Marschall, Sabine,; Mires, Charlene,; Ross, Marc Howard,; Smithey, Lee A.,; Soudien, Crain,; Stevenson, Clifford,; Thomas, Elaine R.,; Yeh, Chiou-Ling,
• HerausgeberIn: Ross, Marc Howard,
• Place / Publishing House: Philadelphia : : University of Pennsylvania Press, , [2012]; ©2009
• Year of Publication: 2012
• Language: English
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (312 p.) :; 11 illus.

From cartoons of Muhammad in a Danish newspaper to displays of the Confederate battle flag over the South Carolina statehouse, acts of cultural significance have set off political conflicts and sometimes violence. These and other expressions and enactments of culture-whether in music, graffiti, sculpture, flag displays, parades, religious rituals, or film-regularly produce divisive and sometimes prolonged disputes. What is striking about so many of these conflicts is their emotional intensity, despite the fact that in many cases what is at stake is often of little material value. Why do people invest so much emotional energy and resources in such conflicts? What is at stake, and what does winning or losing represent? The answers to these questions explored in Culture and Belonging in Divided Societies view cultural expressions variously as barriers to, or opportunities for, inclusion in a divided society's symbolic landscape and political life.Though little may be at stake materially, deep emotional investment in conflicts over cultural acts can have significant political consequences. At the same time, while cultural issues often exacerbate conflict, new or redefined cultural expressions and enactments can redirect long-standing conflicts in more constructive directions and promote reconciliation in ways that lead to or reinforce formal peace agreements. Encompassing work by a diverse group of scholars of American studies, anthropology, art history, religion, political science, and other fields, Culture and Belonging in Divided Societies addresses the power of cultural expressions and enactments in highly charged settings, exploring when and how changes in a society's symbolic landscape occur and what this tells us about political life in the societies in which they take place.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Preface -- Chapter 1. Cultural Contestation and the Symbolic Landscape -- Chapter 2. The Rise and Fall of a Sacred Place -- Chapter 3. Social Lives of the Dead -- Chapter 4. Flagging Peace -- Chapter 5. Conflict Transformation, Cultural Innovation, and Loyalist Identity in Northern Ireland -- Chapter 6. Islamic Headscarves in Public Schools -- Chapter 7. Minority Language Policy in France -- Chapter 8. Symbols of Reconciliation or Instruments of Division? -- Chapter 9. Emerging Multiculturalisms in South African Museum Practice -- Chapter 10. Strategies for Transforming and Enlarging South Africa's Post-Apartheid Symbolic Landscape -- Chapter 11. Invisible House, Invisible Slavery -- Chapter 12. Politicizing Chinese New Year Festivals -- Chapter 13. Paddy, Shylock, and Sambo -- Epilogue -- Contributors -- Index