American Exceptionalism?

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-x

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2. The Persistence of Exceptionalism: Class Formation and the Comparative Method

   • Rick Halpern, Jonathan Morris

   Pages 1-13

3. The Dodo and the Phoenix: A Fable of American Exceptionalism

   • Michael Zuckerman

   Pages 14-35

4. Working-Class Formation and American Exceptionalism, Yet Again

   • Ira Katznelson

   Pages 36-55

5. Why Is There No Labor Party? Class and Race in the United States and Australia

   • Robin Archer

   Pages 56-75

6. It Is ‘the Working Class Who Fight All the Battles’: Military Service, Patriotism, and the Study of American Workers

   • Roger Horowitz

   Pages 76-100

7. The Limits of Liberalism: Working-Class Formation in Britain and the United States

   • Neville Kirk

   Pages 101-133

8. Present at the Creation: Working-Class Catholics in the United States

   • Leslie Woodcock Tentler

   Pages 134-157

9. Religion and the Formation of the Italian Working Class

   • John Pollard

   Pages 158-180

10. Inbetween Peoples: Race, Nationality and the New Immigrant Working Class

    • James R. Barrett, David Roediger

    Pages 181-220

11. ‘Amiable Peasantry’ or ‘Social Burden’: Constructing a Place for Black Southerners

    • James R. Grossman

    Pages 221-243

12. South African and US Labour in the Era of the Second World War: Similar Trends and Underlying Differences

    • Peter Alexander

    Pages 244-269

13. Apropos Exceptionalism: Imperial Location and Comparative Histories of South Africa and the United States

    • Robert Gregg

    Pages 270-306

14. Back Matter

    Pages 307-325

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The idea that American historical development is different from that of other nations is an old one, yet it shows no sign of losing its emotive power. 'Exceptionalism' continues to excite, beguile, and frustrate students of the American past. The essays in this volume explore the ways in which the process of class formation in the United States can be said to be distinctive. Focusing upon the impact of liberal political thought, race and immigration, and the role of the war-time state, they challenge particularist and nation-centred modes of explanation. Comparing American historical development with Italian, South African, and Australian examples, the essays reinvigorate a tired debate.

• migration
• Nation
• nationality
• politics
• religion
• service
• USA

• University College London, UK

  Rick Halpern, Jonathan Morris

RICK HALPERN is Bissell-Heyd-Associates Chair of American Studies and Professor in the Department of History at the University of Toronto, Canada

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