Anti‐Americanism

Abstract

Although anti‐Americanism has a long tradition, particularly in Europe, the topic has only recently become a major issue for the social sciences. “Anti‐Americanism” denotes essentialistic devaluations of entities perceived to be “typically American” and is made up of attitudinal, behavioral, and discursive dimensions. Despite the intuitive nature of the problem, anti‐Americanism cannot be fully explained as a rational reaction to America's hegemony but refers to systematic misconceptions which are constituted by specific social and psychological functions of the resentment.