Untied States: if at first you don't secede ...
WHOEVER WINS ON NOV. 4, few Americans will harbor any illusions about their national unity. No matter which pairing one chooses--red and blue, Right and Left, coastal elites and flyover salt-of-the-earthers--there is no getting around our status as a country divided, a people set apart from one another as...

Letters & responses.
To the Editor: Regarding Reed Scowen's essay, "Good-bye, Quebec?" (May 2006), Canada is a complex country, the presence in its midst of a French-speaking society concentrated in one province being one important contributor. Language has huge social impact. It determines who we know, what we read, where...

A success story? Analysing Albanian ethno-nationalist extremism in the Balkans.
Introduction The Liberation Army of Kosova (Ushtria Clirimtare e Kosoves, UCK) or 'KLA' (1) has been the best known Albanian rebel movement in the former Yugoslavia during the 1990s. Its most important offshoots have been the National Liberation Army (Ushtria Clirimtare Kombetare, UCK) or 'NLA' (2) in...

The social life of conflict narratives: violent antagonists, imagined histories, and foreclosed futures in Aceh, Indonesia.
How can anthropologists contribute to the generation of knowledge about violent conflicts that uncovers rather than recapitulates the dynamics that perpetuate them? An anthropological perspective on political violence offers the possibility of seeing the social and cultural grounds on which political narratives rest and making visible the dynamic interactions...

Minute men, yeomen, and the mobilization for secession in the South Carolina upcountry.
IN THE FALL OF 1860, LIMESTONE SPRINGS WAS AN UNDISTINGUISHED village in the far upper piedmont of South Carolina, in sight of the Blue Ridge foothills and only a few miles distant from the North Carolina border. The village itself was home to a female academy and a few...

The Struggle for Quebec: from Referendum to Referendum.
The Struggle for Quebec: From Referendum to Referendum By ROBERT A. YOUNG. Montreal and Kingston: McGill-Queen's University Press. 1999. Pp. 210, bibliographical references, index. "Better late than never" is an old adage that, after reviewing this book, could be supplemented with the maxim "better late than ever."...

Plus ca change: Canada and Quebec in the year since the 1995 Referendum.
In my article on the 1995 Referendum, I concluded that most French-speaking Quebeckers--on the No side as well as the Yes--voted for fundamental change in Quebec's relation with the rest of Canada. Thus, resolution of the constitutional impasse could significantly lessen support for separatism in the foreseeable future. Conversely,...

Vandals at the garden's gates? Political reaction to the maritime union proposal on Prince Edward Island.
The concept of Maritime union--that is, a political amalgamation of the provinces of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island--has, in recent years, again appeared on the Canadian political agenda. As in the past, two main forces drive it: First, there remains the looming threat of Quebec secession,...

Becoming Southern: the Jews of Savannah, Georgia, 1830-70.
A growing interest in multiculturalism and diversity in American society has prompted an outpouring of scholarship during the last few decades on the history of immigrant and ethnic groups, but relatively few studies have focused upon immigrants to the South.(1) This dearth is particularly glaring in view of evidence that...

Beyond the crystal ball: modelling predictions about Quebec and Canada.
Within the field of Canadian politics, intense debate over the constitution is a central and abiding concern. Given the failure of the Meech Lake and Charlottetown Accords, it is suitable to reflect on Canada--and especially Quebec--as a political entity in the greater setting of North America. The passage of...