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Economists have argued that outsourcing is another form of international trade. However, based on a representative national survey of Americans conducted in 2007 and 2009, the distribution of preferences on these two issues appears to be quite different. This article examines the origins of attitudes toward outsourcing, focusing on the extent to which it reflects (1) the economic vulnerabilities of individuals; (2) the information they receive about outsourcing, including their subjective understanding of what constitutes outsourcing; and (3) noneconomic attitudes toward foreign people and foreign countries. The findings emphasize the importance of variations in understandings of the term, as well as the highly symbolic nature of attitudes toward this issue. Individuals who believe the US should distance itself from international affairs more generally, who are nationalistic, or who feel that members of other ethnic and racial groups within the US are less praiseworthy than their own group tend to have particularly hostile reactions to outsourcing. The informational cues people receive are also important influences on their understanding of and attitudes toward outsourcing. Experimental results further emphasize the symbolic nature of attitudes toward outsourcing. Taken together, the results strongly suggest that attitudes are shaped less by the economic consequences of outsourcing than by a sense of "us" versus "them."

Senior Project submitted to The Division of Social Studies of Bard College.

Este trabajo plantea la función de la reflexión histórica en la cons-trucción del discurso nacionalista español en los años de la inmediata posguerra y consolidación del régimen de Franco. En especial, trata de desvelarse el papel que desempeñó el paso de la exaltación del imperio a la reflexión sobre la decadencia y, sobre todo, la nueva apreciación del siglo xix español. Estos últimos aspectos -la nueva consideración sobre la decadencia y la reivindicación del criticismo regeneracionista de fines del xix- pasaban a ser congruentes con una necesidad intelectual y política del régimen: señalar su singularidad y su voluntad de perma-nencia, en el momento en que había quebrado una experiencia fascista que podía contemplarse como circunstancia contingente para recuperar lo esencial de la em-presa universal española ; This article sets up the role of historical essay in the constitu-tion of Spanish nationalist discourse in the years of early civil postwar and initial consolidation of Franco's regime. it explores the transition of studies basically re-lated to imperial Spain to those examining decadence. moreover, it evaluates the irruption of a new intellectual consideration of Spanish nineteenth century. these last elements -the new analysis of modern decadence and the vindication of re-generation criticism-, were congruent with an intellectual and political need of Francoism. this was the urgency of strengthening its singularity and its will of per-manence, when the destruction of international fascist experience could be seen as a contingent circumstance opening way for the recovering of the Spanish universal enterprise essence

AbstractThis essay revisits 1920s German debates over the illegitimate children of the Rhineland occupation to examine hitherto neglected fluctuations in the relationship between nationalism and racism in Weimar Germany. During the early 1920s, nationalist anxieties focused on the alleged racial 'threats' emanating from the mixed-race children of colonial French soldiers. After 1927, plans for the forced sterilisation and deportation of the mixed-race children were dropped; simultaneously, officials began to support German mothers' paternity suits against French soldiers. This hitherto neglected shift in German attitudes towards the 'Rhineland bastards' sheds new light on the role of debates over gender and the family in the process of Franco–German rapprochement. It also enhances our understanding of the contradictory political potentials of popularised foreign policy discourses about women's and children's victimisation emerging from World War I.

Article publié dans le Monde diplomatique d'août 2012. ; Au contraire des soulèvements égyptiens et tunisiens, l'insurrection syrienne de mars 2011 n'a pas fait l'unanimité au sein des gauches arabes. Entre empathie envers les revendications démocratiques des manifestants syriens, et crainte des ingérences politiques et militaires extérieures, une véritable ligne de fracture s'est dessinée.

This dissertation revisits the "rally-round-the-flag" (RRTF) phenomenon in which the popularity of U.S. presidents increases sharply after major war events and during security crises. Existing explanations often ignore the role of emotions in the formation of political attitudes, or include only negative emotions and overlook positive ones. Further, existing approaches lack a focus on the nationalist framing of the situation and the nationalist emotions of pride, confidence, and hope. Finally, previous approaches often miss the fact that the RRTF effect is co-produced through an interaction between official rhetoric and the perceptions and nationalist sentiment of the general population.Chapter 1 proposes that the RRTF effect emerges when and if a major war or security crisis is widely perceived as an opportunity to enhance the prestige of the nation, thereby activating a popular nationalist sentiment. Under these circumstances, individuals experience positive emotions--pride, hope, and confidence--associated with their membership in the nation. These emotions facilitate a positive evaluation of military action, and therefore motivate individuals to support the president. Chapter 2 applies the qualitative comparative analysis technique to data on all major war and security crises in the United States from 1950 to 2006. The findings reveal that RRTF periods have emerged when the presidential rhetoric and the supporting historical circumstances have led the public to consider war events or security crises as opportunities to reclaim or enhance the prestige the nation has vis-à-vis other nations. The investigation did not support alternative arguments proposed in the literature. Chapter 3 analyzes survey data collected during the presidency of George W. Bush and shows that support for the president during two RRTF periods was motivated primarily by positive emotions about Bush's antiterrorism policy, and these emotions stemmed from national identification. Chapter 4 reports the results of a survey-based experiment. The findings demonstrate that participants who were exposed to official rhetoric that used nationalist language to justify military action against Iran reported higher levels of nationalist sentiment, pride, and confidence, and were more likely to support military action than participants who were either exposed to internationalist rhetoric or assigned to a control group.

Article publié dans le Monde diplomatique d'août 2012. ; Au contraire des soulèvements égyptiens et tunisiens, l'insurrection syrienne de mars 2011 n'a pas fait l'unanimité au sein des gauches arabes. Entre empathie envers les revendications démocratiques des manifestants syriens, et crainte des ingérences politiques et militaires extérieures, une véritable ligne de fracture s'est dessinée.

Miłosz, war and civilian poetryThe article addresses the reaction of the Polish population during Second World War towards the military resistance to the occupier. The author offers a case study of the life choices of Czesław Miłosz, the poet. Considering them hopeless and counterproductive, Miłosz decided not to participate in military actions. He had no confidence in the Polish government in exile and its military decisions. Instead, the poet concentrated on writing and publishing; he also criticized what he viewed as unjustified sacrifice of life in the Warsaw Uprising of 1944. His attitude was criticized then, and today continues to be a source of attacks against the poet. The article analyses the logic of national solidarity in the times of foreign occupation and the arguments of the poet's critics. The author of the article comes to the conclusion that Miłosz's stand was beneficial not only for himself but also for the community as a whole.