A fully revised edition of the seminal classic This classic study was originally written by Edward Stewart in 1972 and has become a seminal work in the field of intercultural relations. In this edition, Stewart and Milton J. Bennett have greatly expanded the analysis of American cultural patterns by introducing new cross-cultural comparisons and drawing on recent reseach on value systems, perception psychology, cultural anthropology, and intercultural communication. Beginning with a discussion of the issues relative to contact between people of different cultures, the authors examine the nature of cultural assumptions and values as a framework for cross-cultural analysis. They then analyze the human perceptual process, consider the influence of language on culture, and discuss nonverbal behavior. Central to the book is an analysis of American culture constructed along four dimentions: form of activity, form of social relations, perceptions of the world, and perception of the self. American cultural traits are isolated out, analyzed, and compared with parallel characteristics of other cultures. Finally, the cultural dimentions of communication and their implications for cross-cultural interaction are examined.

Even though the majority of Americans hold moderate views on issues such as abortion, homosexual rights, funding for the arts and public broadcasting, and multicultural education, extremists tend to dominate public debate. James Davidson Hunter explained this polarization of American politics and political discourse and popularized the term culture wars in his best-selling book Culture Wars: The Struggle to Define America. The eleven contributors to The American Culture Wars analyse these and other heatedly contested issues. In addition, they examine new developments in the culture wars. Together the chapters of this book illuminate current cultural conflicts and offer clues as to where the next American culture wars may be waged.

The National Political Science Review is the official publication of the National Conference of Black Political Scientists. This new volume, Contemporary Patterns of Politics, Praxis, and Culture reflects major research focuses across religion, race, gender, culture, and of course, politics. Themes that engage a community of scholars also engage them in praxis as individual citizens and practitioners in a democratic society, and collectively as member-participants in a changing culture. Two themes, religion and culture are relatively new areas of intellectual curiosity for political scientists. Articles in this volume extend the beachheads already established by African-American political scientists in studies that guage the significance and influence of religion in both individual and group behavior. They chart religion's inevitable move onto the center stage of U.S. public affairs. The study of culture has essentially languished for almost a generation within political science, especially with regard to the study of American politics and society. During this time the emphasis has also shifted significantly from an almost exclusive focus on civic culture to an expanding focus on the broad expanse of popular culture in the contemporary period. Culture is the crucible within which politics, race, religion, and gender both foment and ferment, and artistic products of the culture are manifestations and mirrors of how we envision and construct a changing reality. Issues of race, religion, gender and culture are all dimensions of individual and group identity. The dynamics of changing individual and group identities change the underlying cultural canvas against which identity is displayed and politics is acted out. The concept of praxis is relatively new to the lexicon of political science. However, engagement in the practice of politics is not a new idea for African-American social scientists. Indeed, particularly for this group, and clearly for many others,