1. Nationalism, national identity
SEU2310
Introduction to theories 1

2. What is a Nation?
"A nation is a historically constituted, stable community of people, formed on the basis of a common language, territory, economic life, and psychological make-up manifested in a common culture.”
Reification: the act of treating a concept or abstraction as if it has real, concrete qualities.
Essentialization: reductionism; treating a group as homogeneous

3. Nation Miroslav Hroch: Imagined communities– Benedict Anderson
“Memory” of common past
Density of linguistic or cultural ties
Conceptions of equality among members
Imagined communities– Benedict Anderson
“Imagined as inherently limited and sovereign”
A concept of “experience and expectations”– Karolewski and Suszycki
Category for organizing difference

4. Nation (con’t) When is the nation? Where is the nation?
How is the nation constituted?
Constituted thru symbols, discourse, practices…
Why…?
What the nation is not:
The state, all the people
A sharp contrast to Empire
Legitimate opposition to Communism

5. Nation (con’t) Contingent upon the form and function of the state
Imagined and constructed, but perceived as very real; must be treated with care and consideration, but not reified.
Often, more difference exists within a nation than between nations

6. Perspectives on Nations (from K&S)
Functional
Macro-historical processes
Constructivist
Constantly (re-)created thru discourse and practices
Genealogical
Ethnosymbolic approach (tracing the development of nations)
Rationalist
Behavior analyzed thru rational choice theory

7. Nation (con’t) Primordialist view of nation (Nationalists)
Primordial and natural
Since time immemorial
Perrenialist view (Some Social Scientists)
Ethnic core out of which nations developed at different points in history
Modern, constructivist view (Most Social Sci.)
Constructions associated with the new circumstances of modernity: states, popular literacy, newspapers and novels, mass educational systems, museums, histories

8. Nationalism
A political principle that holds that the nation and state should be congruent– Gellner
“it invents nations where they do not exist”
“An ideology about individuated being concerned with boundedness, continuity and homogeneity encompassing diversity”– Richard Handler
“An idea in which social reality, conceived in terms of nationhood, is endowed with the reality of national things.”

9. Nationalism (con’t) What nationalism is not:
A place on the political spectrum
A set, comprehensive political program
A force that acts upon politics/people
Nationalism does not DO anything
“Nationalism is pervasive in the modern world b/c it is widely USED, not merely found”– Calhoun 2007
Used in vastly different kinds of projects
It matters more b/c it can be used in so many contexts.

10. Nationalism (con’t) Nationalism and religion
Nationalism and ethnic politics/territories
Nationalism and class struggle/economics
Nationalism and environment
Nationalism and art
Nationalism and decolonialization
Nationalism and multiculturalism
Nationalism and sport

11. Nationalism (con’t)
“A discursive phenomenon that gives shape to the modern world”– Calhoun 2007
“A way of talking, writing, and thinking about the basic units of culture, politics, and belonging that helps to constitute nations as real and powerful dimensions of social life”– Calhoun 2007
“Nations do not exist “objectively”: before they exist discursively.”– Calhoun 2007

12. Ethnic vs. Civic nationalism
Membership based on descent
Common faith, language, history
Nations can be unambiguously identified
Civic
Membership = citizenry
Territory and its history
“daily referendum” (E. Renan)
Patriotism

13. National Identity
Easier to identify connections to national identity than nationalisms
When, Where is national identity activated?
“Collective memory”/national identity often enacted thru memorials, rituals, museums, literature, songs, etc.
Signs, symbols, discourse, actions
Demonstrate constructedness of nations

14. National Identity (con’t)
Three aspects of national identity
Integrative function
Othering function
“We—I balance” in national identity
Positive self-image/superiority of nation
Slippery slope to out-group discrimination?
Moving from negatively valued group to positively valued group?
Immortality of nations
Connection with past and future

15. National Identity (con’t)
Widespread acceptance of national identity
Legitimacy
Hard to escape national grouping
Ordinary people live nationhood in a variety of ways
Talking the nation
Choosing the nation
Consuming the nation
Performing the nation