Civic Nationalism

Michael D. Purzycki (Sam Slaughter)
January 2023

Does America need to reclaim a term for “nationalism” that isn’t conflated with racism and xenophobia? Would the positive version of such a term be a useful tool for society-building? Is “civic nationalism” such a term?

We explored these questions and more like, is empathy actually a bad thing, bottom-up vs. top-down methods of national identity building, the contrast of city pride versus national pride, the Adams Imperative, Schlesinger’s Vital Center, and the link between social status and civics.

The core reading for the week was Michael Purzycki’s The Case for Civic Nationalism. He apparently made a strong case, as the majority (but not all) club members surveyed at the end of the discussion said they would be willing to identify as a “civic nationalist”.

Related readings:

American Crucible: Race and Nation in the Twentieth Century (Gary Gerstle, 2001)

Choose civic patriotism over ethnic nationalism (Robert Christian, National Catholic Reporter)

The work of Michael Lind, who uses the term Liberal Nationalism.