Polec, Patryk

English

Histoire sociale / Social History (E-Journal, York University)

Chinatown included local Chinese residents and women, but the composition andimplications of this coalition is not mentioned. Another unexplored story is that ofLeo Mantha, the last person to be executed by hanging in British Columbia (inBurnaby, a suburb of Vancouver) after being convicted of murdering his malelover at the West Coast Canadian Navy Base in Esquimalt. It was a watershedcase in the history of homosexuality and homophobia in Canada (GordonBrent Ingram, “Returning to the Scene of the Crime: Uses of Trial Dossiers forUrban Research, with Examples from Twentieth-century British Columbia”,GLQ: A Journal of Lesbian and Gay Studies, vol. 10, no. 1, 2003, pp. 77–110).A consideration of those who enjoyed few of the benefits of manly modernismwould likely demonstrate that, in some quarters, significant complaints arosefrom those excluded from power (p. 7), and these complaints posed a direct chal-lenge to modern masculinity.Good books should not just be read; they should generate new ideas and inspiremore interest in a field. Manly Modernism does all these things. It is a much-wel-comed addition to histories of gender, modernity, and the postwar era in Canadaand should be read by scholars with an interest in these fields. Sections of the bookare also of particular interest to historians of labour, the environment, and medi-cine. Written in a highly accessible manner, it would work particularly well in agraduate seminar. As such, this book has a great deal to offer the modernreader, manly or otherwise.Elise ChenierSimon Fraser UniversityELEY, Geoff, and Jan PALMOWSKI (eds.) — Citizenship and National Identity inTwentieth-Century Germany. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2008.Pp. 304.The post-1989 political reorganization of central and eastern Europe and the chal-lenges of globalization and migration have prompted scholars to revisit modernGerman history through the lens of “citizenship.” The inception of a EuropeanUnion citizenship as well as migration and immigration have significantlychanged the political, cultural, and economic dynamic of Germany. This hassparked an evaluation of the German citizenship law and its exclusive conceptionbased on the ius sanguinis. Citizenship analysis deconstructs political-legal con-cepts to determine how identity and citizen rights are defined through publicand political debates.T. H. Marshall’s contention that citizenship denotes “the full membership of thehuman community” has been challenged by sociologists, anthropologists, politicalscientists, and social historians who believe that such a simplified definition doesnot accurately define the culture of citizenship (pp. 3–5). Most social scientistsand historians examine “thin” and “thick” concepts of citizenship. The formeris concerned with the legal nature, that is, how interest groups “vie for recognition240 Histoire sociale / Social HistoryHistoire sociale – Social History, vol. XLII, no 83 (Mai-May 2009)before the law for their ability to exercise legal and formal citizenship rights intheory and in practice” (p. 5). The “thick” conceptions focus on the constructionof citizenship through “culture.” Scholars who view citizenship through thisapproach are interested in how cultural constructions, communication, andmaterial artifacts define perceptions of citizenship.Citizenship and National Identity in Twentieth-Century Germany addresses ques-tions that are central to the social sciences by breaking down the rigid dividinglines among cultural, political, social, and legal history. Edited by Geoff Eley(University of Michigan) and Jan Palmowski (King’s College, London, UK), itis based on papers delivered at the conference “Citizenship and NationalIdentity in Twentieth-Century Germany” in 2004. It constitutes the most impor-tant attempt, to date, to consider citizenship as a prime model for decipheringidentity in modern German history. Its contributors investigate major themes inGermany’s past to demonstrate how, and by whom, citizenship was defined inorder to unearth the intricate relationship between citizenship and the nation.The text is divided into three broad categories that consider both “thin” and“thick” conceptions of citizenship. The first deals with the historical developmentand construction of the political-legal concepts. Dieter Gosewinkel’s comparativeexamination of France and Germany suggests that demographic, political, andeconomic conditions forced Germany to define its national community increas-ingly through culture rather than by place of birth. Peter C. Caldwell andAnnemarie Sammartino focus on the Weimar Republic to show that the relation-ship between individuals and the state was constantly renegotiated to preserve thesurvival of the Republic. In the final chapter of this section, Jan Palmowski’sexamination of the German Democratic Republic promotes the argument thatsocialist citizenship established a feeling of local togetherness, but ultimatelyfailed to solidify an identification between citizens and the state.The second section explores how citizenship is constructed throughAlltagskultur (everyday culture) and how identity and “otherness” are defined.Jennifer Jenkins examines the Wohnkultur (culture of dwelling) through theWerkbund to demonstrate how German identity was fashioned by architecture,home furnishings, and consumption. S. Jonathan Wiesen broadens this perspectiveby looking at the manufacturing sector during the Third Reich. He argues thatcompany public relations transferred and reinforced Nazi racial ideals by exclud-ing various groups. At the same time, during times of shortages and limited citi-zenship rights, companies worked against the state by promoting individualconsumption and self-gratification instead of placing the Volk above everythingelse. Wiesen suggests that companies helped create a sense of individual normalityeven though they did not hide political and economic realities.Other important contributions in this section include Thomas Lindenberger’sanalysis of law enforcement. He argues that cultural codes, police camaraderie,and expectations about the inviolability of the human body defined the protectionand the enforcement of citizenship. Cornelie Usborne provides insights on gen-dered contestations around political rights during the transition from the lateEmpire to the Weimar Republic. She reflects on how the abortion laws shapedComptes rendus / Book Reviews 241Histoire sociale – Social History, vol. XLII, no 83 (Mai-May 2009)attitudes about sexuality, the body, and women. Finally, Toby Thacker provides anengaging analysis of how music cuts clear dividing lines between inclusion andexclusion.The final section offers theoretical approaches and reflections that link all of thecontributions. Pascal Grosse, Adelaide von Saldern, and Kathleen Canningconfirm that “citizenship provides a common denominator that complicates ourunderstanding of the interdependent relationship between politics and culturewhile enabling a transcendence of hitherto distinct historical fields and perspec-tives” (pp. 13–14).In the concluding chapter, Geoff Eley makes a final plea to suggest that citizen-ship can inform us about the meanings of continuity and rupture in Germany’spast. The contributors cut across the traditional turning points of 1914, 1918,and 1945 to demonstrate that citizenship provides a framework through whichthe German past can be compared in diverse periods and political contexts(pp. 233–246).The common thread that binds these contributions is the notion that citizenshipis a cultural construction and a process through which the public and the auth-orities define and compete for inclusion. The book does not come to any firm con-clusions; rather, its aim is to suggest new avenues for further investigation. Itsarguments are coherent and it offers a solid examination of the negotiation andconstruction of citizenship. A chapter on the Federal Republic of Germany, orat best a comparison of citizenship construction between the FRG and theGerman Democratic Republic, would help complete the picture by further explor-ing the impact of ideological constructions on popular practice in very differentpolitical contexts. However, as the editors suggest, they do not pretend to offera total analysis, but rather a solid starting point. For this, they should becongratulated.Patryk J. PolecUniversity of OttawaFAURE, David — Emperor and Ancestor: State and Lineage in South China.Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2007. Pp. 464.For some books, reading the review is enough; a brief synopsis and a sense of howthe reviewed work fits into the wider scholarly literature are all one has time toabsorb anyway. For other books, the review only needs to say one thing: readthis book. David Faure’s masterpiece falls into the latter category. A shortreview cannot do it justice; for a full review, I refer the reader to JohnLagerwey’s review essay (“State and Local Society in Late Imperial China” inT’oung Pao, vol. 93, 2007, pp. 459–479). Here I only briefly discuss what thebook sets out to do and how that contributes to the wider field.Faure’s argument is deceptively simple. The single-surname village, where allmembers trace their descent to a common ancestor, was a construct as well as242 Histoire sociale / Social HistoryHistoire sociale – Social History, vol. XLII, no 83 (Mai-May 2009)

ELEY, Geoff, and Jan PALMOWSKI (eds.) — Citizenship and National Identity in Twentieth-Century Germany.

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ELEY, Geoff, and Jan PALMOWSKI (eds.) — Citizenship and National Identity in Twentieth-Century Germany.

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