Samuel P. Huntington

Samuel Phillips Huntington (born April 18, 1927) is a political scientist known for his analysis of the relationship between the military and the civil government, his investigation of coup d'etats, and his thesis that the central political actors of the 21st century will be civilizations rather than nation-states. More recently, he garnered widespread attention for his analysis of threats posed to the United States by modern-day immigration. He is a professor at Harvard University. Huntington came to prominence as a scholar in the 1960s with the publication of Political Order in Changing Societies, a work which challenged the conventional view of modernization theorists that economic and social progress would bring about stable democracies in recently decolonized countries.

Who Are We and immigration

The latest book by Huntington, Who Are We: The Challenges to America's National Identity, was released in May 2004. The subject is the meaning of American national identity and the possible threat posed to it by large-scale Latino immigration, which Huntington warns could "divide the United States into two peoples, two cultures, and two languages". Like The Clash of Civilizations, this book has also stirred controversy, and some have accused Huntington of xenophobia for asserting that America has historically been culturally an Anglo-Saxon Protestant country.

Related Topics:
2004 - American - National identity - Latino - Immigration - Culture - Language - Xenophobia

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He stands further accused of presenting an ethnocentric or racist attitude towards immigration, arguing that Mexican values (for instance a "lack of ambition" and "acceptance of poverty as a virtue necessary for entry into Heaven") are inherently incompatible with the Anglo-Protestant ideals (under which he lists among other things Christianity, religious commitment and a Protestant work ethic). He argues further that the latter set of values are a threat to the American Dream, which he says is the "dream created by an Anglo-Protestant society". He further states that Mexican Americans can "share in that dream and in that society only if they dream in English".

Related Topics:
Ethnocentric - Racist - Heaven - Christianity - Protestant work ethic - American Dream

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