The Nation and the Promise of Friendship [electronic resource] : Building Solidarity through Sociability /
Kaplan, Danny.author.
When strangers meet in social clubs, watch reality television, or interact on Facebook, they contribute to the social glue of mass society—not because they promote civic engagement or democracy, but because they enact the sacred promise of friendship. Where most theories of nationalism focus on issues of collective identity formation, Kaplan’s novel framework turns attention to compatriots’ experience of solidarity and how it builds on interpersonal ties and performances of public intimacy. Combining critical analyses of contemporary theories of nationalism, civil society, and politics of friendship with in-depth empirical case studies of social club sociability, Kaplan ultimately shows that strangers-turned-friends acquire symbolic, male-centered meaning and generate feelings of national solidarity. .
Includes bibliographical references
1. Friendship and Solidarity: The Road Not Taken in Studies of National Attachment -- 2. Social Club Sociability -- 3. Public and Collective Intimacies -- 4. From Strangers to Friends to Brothers: The Meta-Narrative of National Solidarity -- 5. The Big Brotherhood: Freemasons and Civic Sociability -- 6. Songs of the Brotherhood: Radio Music and the Engineering of the National Mood -- 7. The Big Brother: Reality TV Audience turned into Confidants -- 8. The Absent Brother: Military Friendships and National Commemoration -- 9. Conclusion.
When strangers meet in social clubs, watch reality television, or interact on Facebook, they contribute to the social glue of mass society—not because they promote civic engagement or democracy, but because they enact the sacred promise of friendship. Where most theories of nationalism focus on issues of collective identity formation, Kaplan’s novel framework turns attention to compatriots’ experience of solidarity and how it builds on interpersonal ties and performances of public intimacy. Combining critical analyses of contemporary theories of nationalism, civil society, and politics of friendship with in-depth empirical case studies of social club sociability, Kaplan ultimately shows that strangers-turned-friends acquire symbolic, male-centered meaning and generate feelings of national solidarity. .
Citizenship—Sociological aspects.
Citizenship.
Political sociology.
Communication.
Ethnography.
Sociology of Culture.
Sociology of Citizenship.
Citizenship.
Political Sociology.
Media and Communication.
Ethnography.