From Eurocentrism To “America First”:Ethnocentric Construction Of American National Identity

With the help of Benedict Anderson’s wisdom in expounding the influence of collective identity in the formation of a nation-state,this paper pays special attention to America,which experienced a colonial period but now emerges as a leading superpower at the world stage.After trying to clarify the misconceptions about a nation-state,this paper focuses on how American national identity is constructed in American history.First,it relates the process of constructing American national identity in psychological and cultural dimension through official rewriting of history on Westward Movement.This construction is inseparable from the efforts of the learned class and the influence of religious factors.Then it concentrates on the race relations after the American Civil War(from the 1860s to the early 20^th century).As the superiority of the whites in the legal level recedes to lose their dominating status,the construction of social hierarchy and political hegemony arises confronted with challenges and rebellion.African Americans’struggle for education rights and the propaganda on unequal race relations reveal the exclusiveness and subjugation in the construction of American national identity.After the waves of immigrants and the civil rights movements have greatly reshaped the composition of American population,the construction of American national identity intends to seek for a broader concept of cultural identity.In the recent Trump Administration,this paper focuses on American Exceptionalism and unilateralism in the construction of American nation-state in foreign policy dimension.The changes in American foreign policies demonstrate how America deals with new immigrants and inter-governmental relations and what is more important is the ethnocentric logic behind those policies.Guided by the critical perspective of Eurocentrism,this paper also attempts to disclose the continuity of Ethnocentrism in the building of American national identity,especially focusing on the field of cultural studies.Therefore,it elaborates on the transcendence of Eurocentrism in Westward Movement and the remains of this paradigm.After the immigration waves and civil rights movements,the continuity of Ethnocentrism is disclosed and the cultural hegemony in America is going through challenges in a post-colonial and pluralist global context.