Patriotism
Basics
On the Web: Articles
When Even Old Glory is Made in China. Leita Walker, Christian Science Monitor (7/1/03). Post-9/11 outsourcing of US flag supply.
Patriotism is Not the Highest Calling. Michael Welch, National Catholic Reporter (4/18/03):22. Christians obliged to set their country right when it is in the wrong.
US Today Needs Patriotism, not Nationalism. Larry Hufford, National Catholic Reporter (10/18/02).
A Prayer for America. Rep. Dennis Kucinich, Common Dreams (2/17/02). Speech to Southern California Americans for Democratic Action (2/12/02).Saying Goodbye to Patriotism. Robert Jensen, Counterpunch (11/12/01). Limits our ability to work for peace & justice on global scale.
Patriotism: Boon or Bane? Ching Lee, Sacramento News & Review (10/11/01).
What is patriotism? John Schaar, Floyd Abrams, Richard Cloward & Frances Fox Piven, William Sloane Coffin, Stephen F. Cohen, Martin Duberman, Richard Falk, Howard Fast, Vivian Gornick, Jesse L. Jackson, Erwin Kroll, Mary McGrory, Natalie Merchant & Katrina vanden Heuvel. Nation (10/01). Eloquent statements reclaiming banner of patriotism for democratic Left.
Why I Will Not Rally Around the Flag. Robert Jensen, Counterpunch (9/15/01). Thoughtful opposition to knee-jerk tendency towards war.
On the Web: Specialized Sites
In the Library: Articles
Brooks, kDavid. "What Whitman knew," Atlantic (5/03):32-33.
Church, Forrest. "The American creed," Nation (9/16/02):19-22. Values based on spiritual foundation grounded in nature.
Conniff, Ruth. "Patriot games," Progressive (1/02):14-15.
Dreier, Peter & Dick Flacks. "Patriotism's secret history," Nation (6.3/02):39-42. Startling evidence that many symbols of our patriotism come from the tradition of radical dissent, rather than from conservatism.
Editors, San Francisco Chronicle.
"Dissent: the American way," San Francisco Chronicle (7/4/02).
Gilmore, Brian. "Stand by the Man. Black America & the dilemma of patriotism,"
Progressive (1/02):24-27.
Hedges, Chris. "Heckled in Rockford," Progressive (7/03). Hostile audience response to veteran war correspondent's commencement speech about consequences of Iraq war.
Hitchens, Christopher. "Waiving the flag," Nation (7/21/97):8.
Lazare, Daniel. "Pledging allegiance," Nation (3/20/06). Brilliant review essay on Todd Gitlin's The Intellectuals & the Flag, raising critical issues for general discussion of patriotism in US.
Lewis, Joel. "Earl Robinson's red, white & blue," In These Times (9/25/91):18.
Loewen, James. "The new Old Glory," Nation (5/20/02):20-24. Review essay on Lynne Cheney's children's book, America: A Patriotic Primer.
The Nation. 125th Anniversary Issue on Patriotism (7/15/91). Treasure trove of deeply thoughtful writing on this subject by a hundred or so distinguished American writers.
Nussbaum, Martha. "Can patriotism be compassionate?" Nation (12/17/01):11-13.
Pollitt, Katha. "Put out no flags," Nation (10/8/01):9.
In the Library: Non-Fiction Books
Earle, Robert L. & John D. Wirth (eds.) Identitities in North America: The Search for Community (Stanford: Stanford U., 1995).
Fousek, John. To Lead the Free World: American Nationalism & the Cultural Roots of the Cold War (Chapel Hill: U. North Carolina, 2000).
Gerstle, Gary. Working-Class Americanism: The Politics of Labor in a Textile City, 1914-1960 (NY: Cambridge, 1989).
Gitlin, Todd. The Intellectuals & the Flag (NY: Columbia, 2006). See Daniel Lazare critique above.
Hughes, Richard T. Myths America Lives By (Urbana: U. of Illinois, 2003).
Kaufman, Jason. For the Common Good? American Civic Life & the Golden Age of Fraternity (NY: Oxford, 2002). Critical reevaluation of the role of voluntary associations in American political life, past & present.
Kennedy, Caroline. A Patriot's Handbook: Songs, Poems, Stories & Speeches Celebrating the Land We Love (NY: Hyperion, 2003).
Larner, Jesse. Mount Rushmore
& the Romance of Conquest (NY: Nation/Thunder's Mouth, 2002).
Nussbaum, Martha C. & Respondents. For Love of Country: Debating the
Limits of Patriotism (ed. Joshua Cohen; Boston: Beacon, 1996). Wide-ranging critique.
O’Leary, Cecilia Elizabeth. To Die For: The Paradox of American Patriotism
(Princeton, 1999).
Samuel, Lawrence R. Pledging Allegiance. American Identity & the Bond
Drive of World War II (Herndon VA, 1997).
In the Library: Fiction
In the Library: For Young Readers
Gilbert, Barbara Snow. Paper Trail (Asheville NC: Front Street, 2000).
Guthrie, Woody; paintings by Kathy Jacobsen. This Land is Your Land (Boston: Little, Brown, 1999).
In the Library: Poetry
In the Library: Drama
In the Library: Photography
CD & Audio
"The House I Live In"