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The American Exception, Volume 1 pp 23–75Cite as

Palgrave Macmillan

“A Shining City”? Perspectives on the American Exception

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Abstract

What exactly makes the United States exceptional? In a lengthy stream of collective consciousness, Americans have had much to say about the question. A certain story about the country’s exceptional qualities runs through American commentary on American society. The commentary crystallized into a tradition of exceptionalism that shaped how Americans imagine their national community. As an “ism,” it gave that imagination special strength and coherence: “exceptionalism has been a resilient long-term constant in American culture,” two historians argue (Molho and Wood 1998: 4). With all its positive connotations, American exceptionalism was “present at the very creation of America,” part of its “intellectual construction” (Greene 1993: 6). It has continued to play that role.

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  1. Department of Sociology, Emory University, Atlanta, USA

    Frank J. Lechner

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Lechner, F.J. (2017). “A Shining City”? Perspectives on the American Exception. In: The American Exception, Volume 1. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-58717-6_2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-58717-6_2

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