Monday Musings: 'Reclaiming Patriotism'

A conversation via Zoom with the Alfred Cowles Professor of Political Science at Yale University Steven Smith about his new book, “Reclaiming Patriotism in an Age of Extremes” (Yale UP, 2021). The concept of patriotism has fallen on hard times. What was once a value that united Americans has become so politicized by both the left and the right that it threatens to rip apart the social fabric. On the right, patriotism has become synonymous with nationalism and an “us versus them” worldview, while on the left it is seen as an impediment to acknowledging important ethnic, religious, or racial identities and a threat to cosmopolitan globalism. Smith reclaims patriotism from these extremist positions and advocates for a patriotism that is broad enough to balance loyalty to country against other loyalties.