Psychological Borders in Europe and the United States - by Maria del Mar Fariña (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Psychological Borders in Europe and the United States: Contemporary Nationalism, Nativism, and Populism presents an integrative sociopolitical and psychological analysis model to examine contemporary sociopolitical rising ideologies in Europe and the United States; specifically, nationalism, nativism, and populism. Further, this book explores processes involved in the construction and sociopolitical mobilization of large, group identities. Political psychology is introduced to discuss the formation of national and psychological borders and their manifestations, including dynamics of identity driven aggression. The connection between the rise of ideologies, such as nativism and populism, and historical collective traumas is discussed, highlighting the role of social re-enactments, identity transformation, and large collective mourning to contemporary sociopolitical dynamics in Europe and the United States. Ethnic, racial, and intergroup conflict, and the role of immigration and asylum policy in maintaining, changing, and transforming existing collective identities is discussed, to then examine the war between Russia and the Ukraine. This book includes specific case applications to European countries and the United States, where nationalism, nativism, and populism have been on the ascendant.

Review Quotes

"Present day national and international issues in Europe and the United States are the topics of this timely and very informative book. Dr. Fariña illustrates that when a shared identity is threatened, efforts are undertaken to protect it from its external others. Utilizing an integrated sociopolitical and psychological approach the author also focuses on collective traumas and losses, difficulty in large group mourning, and transgenerational transmissions. The connections between the rise of ideologies such as nativism and unprocessed collective traumas are presented. Reading this book expands our understanding of the political and societal events we face." --Vamik Volkan, University of Virginia

"Groupism, the tendency to reduce individuals to their membership of a certain demographic group, can be registered both in social behavior and in 'discourse' our way of conceptualizing and articulating human relationships and identities. It is the great achievement of this bold and insightful study that it connects these two fields, sociopolitical and psychological, which until now were largely studied in different specialisms. How our cultural repertoires and way of thinking influence our way of acting and how discourse is a conduit between the two: that is powerfully demonstrated through Dr. Fariña's trenchant analysis of nationalism, nativism, and populism. I was particularly impressed by the applicability of Dr. Fariña's insights to very different parts of the world, from the United States to Eastern Europe. Scholars worldwide and in many different specialisms will gratefully profit from this book and so will anyone who seeks to understand the new virulence of nationalism." --Joep Leerssen, professor emeritus of European studies, University of Amsterdam

"Anyone interested in nationalism, nativism, and populism will benefit from reading this ambitious book. Employing a sophisticated theoretical framework that draws from political science and sociology and covering a broad empirical landscape, including the United States, France, and Spain, this book highlights the connection between the rise of right-wing ideologies and historical collective dramas through such things as social re-enactments and large collective mourning. In so doing, this book greatly expands our understanding of how right-wing politics and ideologies are shaping contemporary global politics." --Omar G. Encarnación, Bard College

"The particular value of this new study of the recent rise of identity politics on the political right both in the United States and Europe is its combination of the careful presentation and analysis of political and sociopolitical identity discourses and immigration policy narratives with the fundamental concepts of the integrative sociopolitical and psychological analysis model (ISPA). This book's thoroughly researched investigation traces the historical roots of such identity discourses particularly in the United States, Spain, and France. The use of ISPA illuminates the mechanisms by which group trauma and its intergenerational transmission function within identity formation. In a final chapter, this book considers the Russia-Ukraine conflict within the framework of collective identity formation and transformation, relating these to the creation and instrumentalization of a threatening mythical "Other" common to all the examples previously analyzed." --Robert Gould, adjunct research professor, Institute of European, Russian and Eurasian Studies, Carleton University

Anyone interested in nationalism, nativism, and populism will benefit from reading this ambitious book. Employing a sophisticated theoretical framework that draws from political science and sociology and covering a broad empirical landscape, including the United States, France, and Spain, this book highlights the connection between the rise of right-wing ideologies and historical collective dramas through such things as social re-enactments and large collective mourning. In so doing, this book greatly expands our understanding of how right-wing politics and ideologies are shaping contemporary global politics.

Groupism, the tendency to reduce individuals to their membership of a certain demographic group, can be registered both in social behavior and in 'discourse': our way of conceptualizing and articulating human relationships and identities. It is the great achievement of this bold and insightful study that it connects these two fields, sociopolitical and psychological, which until now were largely studied in different specialisms. How our cultural repertoires and way of thinking influence our way of acting and how discourse is a conduit between the two: that is powerfully demonstrated through Dr. Fariña's trenchant analysis of nationalism, nativism, and populism. I was particularly impressed by the applicability of Dr. Fariña's insights to very different parts of the world, from the United States to Eastern Europe. Scholars worldwide and in many different specialisms will gratefully profit from this book and so will anyone who seeks to understand the new virulence of nationalism.

Present day national and international issues in Europe and the United States are the topics of this timely and very informative book. Dr. Fariña illustrates that when a shared identity is threatened, efforts are undertaken to protect it from its external others. Utilizing an integrated sociopolitical and psychological approach the author also focuses on collective traumas and losses, difficulty in large group mourning, and transgenerational transmissions. The connections between the rise of ideologies such as nativism and unprocessed collective traumas are presented. Reading this book expands our understanding of the political and societal events we face.

About the Author

Maria del Mar Fariña is associate professor at Westfield State University, adjunct professor at Smith College, and author of White Nativism, Ethnic Identity and US Immigration Policy Reforms.