This chapter analyzes the importance of \u201cAmerica\u201d (effectively synonymous with \u201cthe West\u201d) as an idealized goal of the political, social, and individual imagination, and examines how the American model of democracy shaped the democratic aspirations of millions of Italians. The arrival of the American armies exerted a great fascination on Italians. However, the myth of America as land of freedom and plenty had been already introduced within the fabric of the Italian society by the power of cinema and literature, and, most importantly, by the culture of letters produced by millions of Italian emigrants. The attraction of America was not only an existential alternative to the backward and poor Italy, further demoralized by the failure of Fascism, but also an effective carrier of the decisive electoral triumph of Christian Democracy over the leftist Popular Front in the parliamentary elections of 1948.<\/p>","DOI":"10.1093\/oso\/9780198817444.003.0004","type":"book","created":{"date-parts":[[2018,11,22]],"date-time":"2018-11-22T05:26:10Z","timestamp":1542864370000},"source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["America is Coming, America is Coming!"],"prefix":"10.1093","author":[{"given":"Rosario","family":"Forlenza","sequence":"first","affiliation":[]}],"member":"286","container-title":["Oxford Scholarship Online"],"original-title":["America is Coming, America is Coming!"],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2022,8,3]],"date-time":"2022-08-03T00:14:58Z","timestamp":1659485698000},"score":9.556599,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/academic.oup.com\/book\/10323\/chapter\/162650412"}},"issued":{"date-parts":[[2018,11,22]]},"references-count":0,"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1093\/oso\/9780198817444.003.0004","published":{"date-parts":[[2018,11,22]]}},{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2024,5,12]],"date-time":"2024-05-12T18:02:39Z","timestamp":1715536959248},"reference-count":0,"publisher":"Oxford University Press","isbn-type":[{"value":"9780190906580","type":"print"},{"value":"9780190906610","type":"electronic"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2021,6,24]]},"abstract":"
The beginnings of Weill\u2019s career coincided with the early days of the Weimar Republic, a period in which Germany experienced remarkable political and cultural changes. Jazz, or at least the idea of jazz, came to symbolize both the good and the bad aspects of America and, more importantly, the \u201cAmericanization\u201d of German culture. Weill was ambivalent about jazz. He spoke of it as a source of renewal for German culture, yet the idea of America and the urban alienation it could represent also allowed him critique to that culture. Weill also saw in the United States a potential market, particularly beginning in 1933. However, several factors made it difficult for him to gain a foothold in the United States, including trends in contemporary U.S. modern music circles and the increasing political tension with Germany.<\/p>","DOI":"10.1093\/oso\/9780190906580.003.0002","type":"book-chapter","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,5,19]],"date-time":"2021-05-19T13:44:55Z","timestamp":1621431895000},"page":"20-49","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Weill\u2019s America, America\u2019s Weill"],"prefix":"10.1093","author":[{"given":"Naomi","family":"Graber","sequence":"first","affiliation":[]}],"member":"286","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,5,20]]},"container-title":["Kurt Weill's America"],"original-title":["Weill\u2019s America, America\u2019s Weill"],"language":"en","deposited":{"date-parts":[[2022,8,2]],"date-time":"2022-08-02T20:45:01Z","timestamp":1659473101000},"score":9.507843,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/academic.oup.com\/book\/39425\/chapter\/339147514"}},"issued":{"date-parts":[[2021,5,20]]},"ISBN":["9780190906580","9780190906610"],"references-count":0,"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1093\/oso\/9780190906580.003.0002","published":{"date-parts":[[2021,5,20]]}},{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2024,9,13]],"date-time":"2024-09-13T00:23:54Z","timestamp":1726187034307},"reference-count":0,"publisher":"Bloomsbury Publishing (UK)","content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"published-print":{"date-parts":[[1971]]},"DOI":"10.5040\/9781350920934","type":"other","created":{"date-parts":[[2023,2,3]],"date-time":"2023-02-03T13:33:37Z","timestamp":1675431217000},"source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["America Tropical"],"prefix":"10.5040","member":"2984","container-title":["America Tropical"],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2023,5,3]],"date-time":"2023-05-03T14:02:30Z","timestamp":1683122550000},"score":9.483104,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.bloomsburyvideolibrary.com\/video?docid=CG-America&tocid=CG-America_6312197785112"}},"issued":{"date-parts":[[1971]]},"references-count":0,"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.5040\/9781350920934","published":{"date-parts":[[1971]]}},{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2024,9,10]],"date-time":"2024-09-10T00:22:45Z","timestamp":1725927765916},"reference-count":0,"publisher":"Rowman & Littlefield Publishers","isbn-type":[{"value":"9781442259966","type":"print"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2016]]},"DOI":"10.5771\/9781442259966-5","type":"book-chapter","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,9,9]],"date-time":"2024-09-09T09:46:53Z","timestamp":1725875213000},"page":"5-18","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Prologue: Race in America: \u2018\u2018There Is Not a Black America and a White America and Latino America and Asian America\u2019\u2019"],"prefix":"10.5771","author":[{"given":"J. Michael","family":"Martinez","sequence":"first","affiliation":[]}],"member":"3821","container-title":["A Long Dark Night"],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2024,9,9]],"date-time":"2024-09-09T10:54:15Z","timestamp":1725879255000},"score":9.450416,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.nomos-elibrary.de\/index.php?doi=10.5771\/9781442259966-5"}},"issued":{"date-parts":[[2016]]},"ISBN":["9781442259966"],"references-count":0,"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.5771\/9781442259966-5","published":{"date-parts":[[2016]]}},{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2022,4,1]],"date-time":"2022-04-01T17:43:24Z","timestamp":1648835004880},"reference-count":0,"publisher":"Peter Lang","content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"DOI":"10.3726\/978-3-0351-0477-6\/5","type":"book-chapter","created":{"date-parts":[[2016,7,11]],"date-time":"2016-07-11T22:50:27Z","timestamp":1468277427000},"source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Transcontinental Images of America"],"prefix":"10.3726","member":"2030","container-title":["America Where?"],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2016,9,1]],"date-time":"2016-09-01T06:30:34Z","timestamp":1472711434000},"score":9.374914,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.peterlang.com\/view\/9783035104776\/9783035104776.00005.xml"}},"issued":{"date-parts":[[null]]},"references-count":0,"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3726\/978-3-0351-0477-6\/5"},{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2022,3,29]],"date-time":"2022-03-29T07:22:08Z","timestamp":1648538528020},"edition-number":"1","reference-count":0,"publisher":"Cambridge University Press","content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"DOI":"10.1017\/9781107415713.003","type":"book-chapter","created":{"date-parts":[[2017,10,3]],"date-time":"2017-10-03T03:58:28Z","timestamp":1507003108000},"source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Whose America?"],"prefix":"10.1017","member":"56","container-title":["Language in Immigrant America"],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2018,4,12]],"date-time":"2018-04-12T12:58:06Z","timestamp":1523537886000},"score":9.374914,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.cambridge.org\/core\/product\/identifier\/9781107415713%23CN-bp-1\/type\/book_part"}},"issued":{"date-parts":[[null]]},"references-count":0,"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1017\/9781107415713.003"},{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2024,5,8]],"date-time":"2024-05-08T01:38:42Z","timestamp":1715132322027},"reference-count":0,"publisher":"University of California Press","isbn-type":[{"value":"9780520293298","type":"print"},{"value":"9780520966468","type":"electronic"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2017,4,3]]},"abstract":"
America has long been much more inclined than other Western democracies to defy norms of diplomacy, international law, and human rights deemed against its interests, although these stances have at times profoundly divided the U.S. public. Americans were bitterly divided over the Bush administration\u2019s use of torture, its aim to detain alleged terrorists forever without trial at Guantanamo, and its catastrophic invasion of Iraq on grounds later revealed to be false. The Obama administration\u2019s rather different approach to foreign policy proved divisive too.\nThe chapter explores why Americans are far more polarized than Europeans over fundamental issues like war, diplomacy, the United Nations, and human rights. From the ideal of Manifest Destiny to America\u2019s relative geographic isolation, superpower status, and the idea that God chose it to lead the world, Mugambi Jouet\u2019s original analysis explains the interrelationship between the different aspects of American exceptionalism shaping U.S. foreign policy.<\/p>","DOI":"10.1525\/california\/9780520293298.003.0009","type":"book-chapter","created":{"date-parts":[[2017,9,23]],"date-time":"2017-09-23T13:11:33Z","timestamp":1506172293000},"source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["America and the World"],"prefix":"10.1525","author":[{"given":"Mugambi","family":"Jouet","sequence":"first","affiliation":[]}],"member":"408","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2017,9,21]]},"container-title":["Exceptional America"],"original-title":["America and the World"],"language":"en","deposited":{"date-parts":[[2022,7,28]],"date-time":"2022-07-28T14:14:10Z","timestamp":1659017650000},"score":9.351883,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/academic.oup.com\/california-scholarship-online\/book\/14635\/chapter\/168787563"}},"issued":{"date-parts":[[2017,4,3]]},"ISBN":["9780520293298","9780520966468"],"references-count":0,"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1525\/california\/9780520293298.003.0009","published":{"date-parts":[[2017,4,3]]}},{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2024,9,13]],"date-time":"2024-09-13T00:14:48Z","timestamp":1726186488067},"reference-count":0,"publisher":"Bloomsbury Publishing (UK)","content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"published-print":{"date-parts":[[1990]]},"DOI":"10.5040\/9781350896079","type":"other","created":{"date-parts":[[2023,2,3]],"date-time":"2023-02-03T08:33:37Z","timestamp":1675413217000},"source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Dance Black America"],"prefix":"10.5040","member":"2984","container-title":["Dance Black America"],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2023,5,3]],"date-time":"2023-05-03T11:06:54Z","timestamp":1683112014000},"score":9.338939,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.bloomsburyvideolibrary.com\/video?docid=PB-Danbl&tocid=PB-Danbl_6312239436112"}},"issued":{"date-parts":[[1990]]},"references-count":0,"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.5040\/9781350896079","published":{"date-parts":[[1990]]}},{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2024,9,13]],"date-time":"2024-09-13T00:17:33Z","timestamp":1726186653519},"reference-count":0,"publisher":"Bloomsbury Publishing (UK)","content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"published-print":{"date-parts":[[1992]]},"DOI":"10.5040\/9781350896154","type":"other","created":{"date-parts":[[2023,2,3]],"date-time":"2023-02-03T13:33:37Z","timestamp":1675431217000},"source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Erick Hawkins' America"],"prefix":"10.5040","member":"2984","container-title":["Erick Hawkins' America"],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2023,5,3]],"date-time":"2023-05-03T15:17:01Z","timestamp":1683127021000},"score":9.335109,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.bloomsburyvideolibrary.com\/video?docid=PB-Eri&tocid=PB-Eri_6312237828112"}},"issued":{"date-parts":[[1992]]},"references-count":0,"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.5040\/9781350896154","published":{"date-parts":[[1992]]}},{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2024,9,13]],"date-time":"2024-09-13T00:23:58Z","timestamp":1726187038113},"reference-count":0,"publisher":"Bloomsbury Publishing (UK)","content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2013]]},"DOI":"10.5040\/9781350910713","type":"other","created":{"date-parts":[[2023,2,3]],"date-time":"2023-02-03T13:33:37Z","timestamp":1675431217000},"source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Made in America"],"prefix":"10.5040","member":"2984","container-title":["Made in America"],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2023,5,3]],"date-time":"2023-05-03T16:03:58Z","timestamp":1683129838000},"score":9.332107,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.bloomsburyvideolibrary.com\/video?docid=BON-Made&tocid=BON-Made_6312200135112"}},"issued":{"date-parts":[[2013]]},"references-count":0,"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.5040\/9781350910713","published":{"date-parts":[[2013]]}},{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2024,5,2]],"date-time":"2024-05-02T19:44:55Z","timestamp":1714679095506},"reference-count":0,"publisher":"Palgrave Macmillan","isbn-type":[{"value":"9781137290762","type":"print"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"DOI":"10.1057\/9781137290762.0003","type":"book-chapter","created":{"date-parts":[[2013,8,16]],"date-time":"2013-08-16T13:58:07Z","timestamp":1376661487000},"source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":2,"title":["Placing Latin America"],"prefix":"10.1057","member":"297","container-title":["Rethinking Latin America"],"language":"en","deposited":{"date-parts":[[2013,8,16]],"date-time":"2013-08-16T14:00:30Z","timestamp":1376661630000},"score":9.32292,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"http:\/\/www.palgraveconnect.com\/doifinder\/10.1057\/9781137290762.0003"}},"issued":{"date-parts":[[null]]},"ISBN":["9781137290762"],"references-count":0,"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1057\/9781137290762.0003"},{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2024,5,5]],"date-time":"2024-05-05T13:12:47Z","timestamp":1714914767800},"reference-count":0,"publisher":"Princeton University Press","isbn-type":[{"value":"9780691147796","type":"print"},{"value":"9781400836710","type":"electronic"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2011,1,30]]},"abstract":"
This chapter examines the origins and direction of Max Weber's thinking as he set his sights on America. It first considers Weber's enthusiasm as a traveler, citing his trips to various countries as well as the impact of these journeys on his spirits and his historical imagination. It then discusses one reason why Weber's travel to the United States in 1904: it came just as Weber had turned his attention to the problems of his most famous work\u2014the theme of the relationships among economic action, economic development, and the moral order of society, explored in his two-part essay