Blood And Culture: Youth, Rightwing Extremism, And National Belonging In Contemporary Germany (Politics, History, And Culture),New

Over The Past Decade, Immigration And Globalization Have Significantly Altered Europes Cultural And Ethnic Landscape, Foregrounding Questions Of National Belonging. In Blood And Culture, Cynthia Milleridriss Provides A Rich Ethnographic Analysis Of How Patterns Of National Identity Are Constructed And Transformed Across Generations. Drawing On Research She Conducted At German Vocational Schools Between 1999 And 2004, Milleridriss Examines How The Workingclass Students And Their Middleclass, Collegeeducated Teachers Wrestle With Their Different Views About Citizenship And National Pride. The Cultural And Demographic Trends In Germany Are Broadly Indicative Of Those Underway Throughout Europe, Yet The Countrys Role In The Second World War And The Holocaust Makes National Identity, And Particularly National Pride, A Difficult Issue For Germans. Because The Vocationalschool Teachers Are Mostly Members Of A Generation That Came Of Age In The 1960S And 1970S And Hold Their Parents Generation Responsible For National Socialism, Many See National Pride As Symptomatic Of Fascist Thinking. Their Students, On The Other Hand, Want To Take Pride In Being German.Milleridriss Describes A New Understanding Of National Belonging Emerging Among Young Germansone In Which Cultural Assimilation Takes Precedence Over Blood Or Ethnic Heritage. Moreover, She Argues That Teachers Wellintentioned, Statesanctioned Efforts To Counter Nationalist Pride Often Create A Backlash, Making Radical Rightwing Groups More Appealing To Their Students. Milleridriss Argues That The States Efforts To Shape National Identity Are Always Tempered And Potentially Transformed As Each Generation Reacts To The Official Conception Of What The Nation Ought To Be.