National identity plays an increasingly important role in Western, liberal democracies. Thus, immigration and diversity are often considered a threat to national identities and restrictions on immigration and nation-building policies are being implemented in response. Specifically, it has been suggested that diversity drives down social cohesion and thus the ties that bind people together in stable, democratic welfare states.
National Identity and Social Cohesion considers the role of national identity in contemporary societies and in particular its significance for social cohesion. National identity impacts perceptions of belongingness, which again impact considerations of deservingness. Perceptions of deservingness, in turn, play an important role for solidarity within the framework of a welfare state. Furthermore, immigration, and the associated questions of belongingness, have been a driver in processes of political polarization. In some cases, political leaders frame minorities as a threat to the nation state warranting a departure from liberal democratic institutions. This book considers questions such as: What role does national identity, more precisely, play for political polarization? Do national identities mediate/moderate the impact of diversity on social cohesion, including trust and solidarity? Has identity politics contributed to a politics of resentment and can more inclusive national identities serve to diminish polarization? In the book, these and other questions about the relation between national identity, belonging and social cohesion are considered by a number of prominent scholars in the field.
Nils Holtug, Professor of Political Philosophy, University of Copenhagen. He is presently working on a book titled The Politics of Social Cohesion. Immigration, Community and Justice (under contract with Oxford University Press). His books include Persons, Interests, and Justice (OUP 2010) and Nationalism and Multiculturalism in a World of Immigration (co-edited with K. Lippert-Rasmussen and S. Lægaard, Palgrave Macmillan 2009).
Eric M Uslaner is Professor Emeritus of Government and Politics, Department of Government and Politics, University of Maryland - College Park. His books include The Historical Roots of Corruption (Cambridge University Press, 2017), Segregation and Mistrust: Diversity, Isolation, and Social Cohesion (Cambridge University Press 2012), The Moral Foundations of Trust (Cambridge University Press 2002). He is the editor of the Oxford Handbook of Social and Political Trust (2018).
Christian Albrekt Larsen is professor of political science, University of Aalborg, Denmark.
Ali Çarkoğlu is professor of political science, Koç University, Turkey.
Markus M. L. Crepaz is Josiah Meigs distinguished teaching professor of political science, University of Georgia, USA.
Nohemi-Jocabeth Echeverria Vicente is a PhD student in political science,Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium.
Ezgi Elçi is a post doctorate in political science, Koç University, Turkey.
Francis Fukuyama is Olivier Nomellini senior fellow and Mosbacher director at the Center on Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law at Stanford University, USA.
Miles Hewstone is Emeritus professor, and Emeritus fellow of New College, Oxford University, UK.
Andreas Hövermann is a sociologist at HansBöckler Foundation, Düsseldorf, Germany.
Dimokritos Kavadias is an Assistant Professor in the Political Science department of the Free University of Brussels. He also teaches in the social work department at the University of Antwerp. His teaching is mainly on methodology courses. His research interests include social work research, educational sociology, educational policy, political psychology, civic education, political socialisation and political behaviour.
Kristian Kongshøj is a associate professor in political science, University of Aalborg, Denmark.
Morris Levy is assistant professor of political science, University of Southern California, USA.
Cas Mudde is Stanley Wade Shelton UGAF professor of International Affairs, University of Georgia, USA.
Karen Nielsen Breidahl is associate professor of political science, University of Aalborg, Denmark.
Madlen Preuß is a post doc in sociology, University of Applied Science Bielefeld, Germany.
Miguel R. Ramos is a lecturer, University of Birmingham, UK.
Bram Spruyt is associate professor of sociology, Vrije Universiteit Brussel,Belgium.
Patti Tamara Lenard is associate professor of applied ethics, University of Ottawa, Canada.
Markus Weyhofen is a MA student in sociology, Bielefeld University,Germany.
Matthew Wright is assistant professor of political science, University of British Columbia, Canada.
