Presents a ground-breaking theory of national solidarity combined with in-depth case studies that reveal how micro-level mechanisms of public intimacy foster national attachment Combines classical and recent developments in several sub-fields including studies of nationalism and community building, cultural sociology, research on civil sphere and civic action, media studies, sociology of emotions and politics of friendship Offers a new and highly original contribution to an important and ever-relevant discussion about the building blocks of national identity and solidarity

Autorentext

Danny Kaplan is Professor in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology and directs the Men Studies center at the Gender Program at Bar Ilan University, Israel. Kaplan specializes in the study of solidarity through the prism of friendship and mediated sociability. He is the author of The Men We Loved: Male Friendship and Nationalism in Israeli Culture (2006).

Inhalt

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.