#6: Rogers Smith's American Constitutive Story

In this episode of American Constitutive Stories, ⁠Harris Mylonas⁠⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠⁠Andrew Thompson⁠⁠⁠ ask Rogers Smith—a distinguished political scientist and former president of the American Political Science Association born in Spartanburg, South Carolina but raised in Springfield, Illinois —to share his understanding of our national identity. He describes how at the core of America is not any specific group but an ongoing contestation about who are true Americans. For Smith, Spider-Man is a true American hero, and he notes that there are now two Spider-Men who are both extremely popular and embraced in American culture as heroes rather than one individual glorified as representing all. In the same spirit, the most promising connecting tissue of our society is constantly trying to find common ground, while preserving our deeply valued differences. He cautions us that "if we make unity alone the only goal, then we have a formula for authoritarianism".