The first part consists of four broad overviews charting the fundamental ways in which group relations have been conceptualized in American public discourse from the early republic to present times. Her commitment to a better appreciation of the ever-growing permeability of the boundaries between groups resonates with the sensible argument underlying Katz's tour de force among the tangles of the American constitutional system. After dissecting the problems arising from the deeply individualistic and procedural nature of the American legal system, Katz posits the need to find a way for constitutional democracy to operate on the basis of having faith in groups other than one's own. 2 Katz's historical reconstruction nicely dovetails with Ned Landsman's essay, which opens the second part. Composed of five case studies, this part addresses the concrete, often contradictory ways in which American pluralism has played itself out as a historical construction in both high and popular cultures over two centuries.
Racial categories play a leading role in the remaining essays.
This book provides the best available overview of cultural pluralism, a qualification that the editors might well have introduced in their opening essay. Recent resurrections of long-forgotten exponents of political pluralism such as Mary Parker Follett and Harold Laski suggest additional sources of inspiration for the inclusive vision of America sketched out in these essays. They also point to the need for integrating the different streams of pluralism into a comprehensive critical view, one that bridges those gaps between topics and among disciplines that are no minor part of the current civic and cultural problems. 4 Ferdinando Fasce University of Bologna Bologna, Italy Content in the History Cooperative database is intended for personal, noncommercial use only. You may not reproduce, publish, distribute, transmit, participate in the transfer or sale of, modify, create derivative works from, display, or in any way exploit the History Cooperative database in whole or in part without the written permission of the copyright holder.