Uncouth nation: why europe dislikes america : why europe dislikes america /

No survey can capture the breadth and depth of the anti-Americanism that has swept Europe in recent years. From ultraconservative Bavarian grandmothers to thirty-year-old socialist activists in Greece, from globalization opponents to corporate executives--Europeans are joining in an ever louder chor...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Markovits, Andrei S.
Corporate Authors: De Gruyter.
Published: Princeton University Press,
Publisher Address: Princeton, N.J. :
Publication Dates: [2007]
©2007
Literature type: eBook
Language: English
Edition: Course Book.
Series: The public square
Subjects:
Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1515/9781400827299
http://www.degruyter.com/doc/cover/9781400827299.jpg
Summary: No survey can capture the breadth and depth of the anti-Americanism that has swept Europe in recent years. From ultraconservative Bavarian grandmothers to thirty-year-old socialist activists in Greece, from globalization opponents to corporate executives--Europeans are joining in an ever louder chorus of disdain for America. For the first time, anti-Americanism has become a European lingua franca. In this sweeping and provocative look at the history of European aversion to America, Andrei Markovits argues that understanding the ubiquity of anti-Americanism since September 11, 2001, requires an appreciation of such sentiments among European elites going back at least to July 4, 1776. While George W. Bush's policies have catapulted anti-Americanism into overdrive, particularly in Western Europe, Markovits argues that this loathing has long been driven not by what America does, but by what it is. Focusing on seven Western European countries big and small, he shows how antipathies toward things American embrace aspects of everyday life--such as sports, language, work, education, media, health, and law--that remain far from the purview of the Bush administration's policies. Aggravating Europeans' antipathies toward America is their alleged helplessness in the face of an Americanization that they view as inexorably befalling them. More troubling, Markovits argues, is that this anti-Americanism has cultivated a new strain of anti-Semitism. Above all, he shows that while Europeans are far apart in terms of their everyday lives and shared experiences, their not being American provides them with a powerful common identity--one that elites have already begun to harness in their quest to construct a unified Europe to rival America.
Carrier Form: 1 online resource (304 pages) : illustrations.
ISBN: 9781400827299
Index Number: D1065
CLC: D850.2
Contents: Frontmatter --
Contents --
Foreword --
Preface --
Introduction --
Chapter 1. Anti-Americanism as a European Lingua Franca --
Chapter 2. European Anti-Americanism: A Brief Historical Overview --
Chapter 3. The Perceived "Americanization" of All Aspects of European Lives: A Discourse of Irritation and Condescension --
Chapter 4. The Massive Waning of America s Image in the Eyes of Europe and the World --
Chapter 5. "Twin Brothers": European Anti-Semitism and Anti-Americanism --
Chapter 6. Anti-Americanism: A Necessary and Welcomed Spark to Jump-start a European Identity? --
Notes --
Index.