Summary
Summary National Identity & The News
- Course
- Institution
This summary consists of lecture notes, required literature and lecturer's added insights.
[Show more]
Seller
Followmartinahavlenova
Reviews received
Content preview
National identity and the newsLecture 1
Nation, for Barrington
- Nation = a collective of people, united by share cultural features and the belief to
the right to territorial self-determination
- State = principle political unit (in international system) corresponding to a territory, a
population, and a set of ruling institutions
- Country = the territorial component of the state
- Border between US x Mexico = border between two states
- Nigeria is a country, a state but not a nation à more than 500 languages, ethnic
groups, etc.
- 3 components necessary (Barrington):
o People à “we are a group”
o Shared cultural characteristics à values, language, myths, symbols
o Territorial self-determination à we want to control our homeland; may or
may not be the case already
Anderson
- Why are there so many ppl willing to die for their states
- Emphasizes the emotional power of the nation
- Nations and nation-ness, nationalism:
o Cultural artefacts
o Profound emotional legitimacy = ppl willing to die for them
- Nation = an imagined political community, that’s both inherently limited and
sovereign
à imagined = we cannot possibly know all of our fellow citizens, but we all share the
idea that we are a part of the same nation (socially constructed)
à community = imagined horizontal comradeship – despite actual inequalities
(socially constructed)
à limited = has borders and other nation outside
à sovereign = free, authority above (older) dynasties/realms
Competing definitions?
A collective of ppl united by shared Imagined political community that is
cultural features and the belief in the both inherently limited and sovereign
right to territorial self-determination
- Emotional power shouldn’t be understated
Nationalism
- Makes me think of a sense of superiority towards other nations
1
,Nationalism for Barrington
- Nationalism = the pursuit (by argument or other activity) of a set of rights for the
self-defined members of the nation, including, at a minimum, territorial
autonomy/sovereignty
à doesn't have to be violent (peaceful separatist movements, referendums)
à territorial boundaries defined (where it should be)
à membership boundaries defined (who’s included)
- Both about ppl and the territory
Banal nationalism
- Billig has two goals here
1. Move nationalism away from periphery
o Nationalism isn’t only for extremists, it happens every day, it’s recreated
every day
2. Challenge idea that nations are the natural, moral order
o It’s not necessarily the right way
A brief history of nationalism (Gellner)
- A while back = agrarian societies
à before the industrial revolution, society was set up around smaller social units;
separate, local cultures
à people identify with their family, kin, village
à ppl learn their culture locally
à limited literacy
- Industrial societies
à huge capital cities, industrial urban centers
à but because you have ppl coming from previously separate cultures, there is need
for communication across groups
à later also a need for common language/writing system and common culture
à education system, state-run, becomes crucial
- Through this process, the folk-transmitted cultures shifted into a school-transmitted
culture
- State and culture become linked
o State runs the schools and therefore standardizes the education
o All attendees within a state get a culturally similar education
o Homogeneity of culture across a state
o Culture becomes identity, to guide through the impersonal, mobile industrial
society
o So culture and state (“nation”) become linked
The “trick” of nationalism (Gellner)
- Nations create and enforce cultural unity
- Diminishing sub-cultures in favor of the high culture
2
, - For Gellner, this is nationalism = the imposition of a common high culture on
previously distinct, low cultures
- But nations often claim to be about a “folk culture” achieving political recognition
- BUT nations didn’t start this way, they were different groups coming together à this
is the disingenuous trick
- So nations seems like a natural, moral ordering of the political world à history
suggest otherwise
Nationalism and assimilation
- Building a nation can/must suppress existing/potential nations (or sub-cultures)
- Cultural assimilation = cultural dominance of one culture over the other; in the end
the original culture has completely vanished
- Today’s version?
à Trump telling the congress women to go where they came from
à There is one true version of what the nation looks like à problematic
So, why banal nationalism? (Billig)
- Billig critiques this sense that nations are neutral, moral
- Yet, helps explain why nation is so powerful, too
à why ppl are wiling to die for it
à why ppl got to war to protect it
à Helps explain why national identity is often clear and so strong
- Banal nationalism = relatively, small, seemingly unimportant, routine elements in
everyday life that remind us of national identity and nationhood (banal = so lacking in
originality as to be obvious and boring)
- This reinforces nations’ importance
- This reminds us that we belong to our nation
- Banal nationalism à a Dutch flag on a carton of milk, American flags everywhere
- Not problematic per say
- Some rarer, but still not perceived as blatant nationalism à sport events, Eurovision
- Even subtler
à news about these events, that re-cues national identity; news discourse implying
togetherness
à the simple division between foreign and domestic news
à “the prime minister said”, “our troops have…”, “the weather will be great..”
- Clarification of the concept:
o In established nations
o Constant stream
o Routine, unconscious
o Not deliberate
- But banal nationalism is not innocent, nor unproblematic à a key point for Billig
Why this matters?
3
, - Reinforces “ideology of nationalism”
- That fighting for nations is fighting for a natural political order
- Nations aren’t natural not homogenous
à differences between religions, ethnicities, social class, regions
- Particular voices are diminished in the national voice à banal nationalism is
therefore problematic
Critiques of banal nationalism
- Only applies to a single, established nation with established borders
- Think of issues in: UK (Scotland, Northern Ireland), Spain (Catalonia, Basque country),
China (Hong Kong, Taiwan), Belgium (Flanders v. Wallonia)
- And supra-nationalism in Europe and beyond
Quick summary
- Nations, nationalism are about (imagined) groups of ppl fighting for/to maintain
territory
- Banal nationalism is the small, daily, and routine flagging of nationhood
o It reinforces the ideology of nationalism
à that nations are the natural political order
à and that nations and culture (should) coincide
o It reinforce the importance of nations and thus national identity
From states to individuals
National identity?
- People are members of nations à by birth or subsequent movement
- But most ppl also feel a sense of national identity and often group loyalty to that
nation
- Why?
1. History of nationalism (link of state and culture; state provides sense of
identity and culture)
2. Banal nationalism (daily reinforcement of nation)
3. Psychology of group attachments
How group identity works
- We unconsciously categorize ppl naturally into groups
- We are either in or out of the group
- Groups serve psychological needs for members
à Affiliation, goal accomplishment, an image associated with specific groups
Social identity theory
- These groups memberships become a part of our sense of self
- Social identity = that part of our self-concept based on group memberships
- Simply being in a group elicits “ingroup bias”
o Ingroup bias = tendency to prefer, and act more favorably, toward our own
groups/fellow group members
- We need to feel pro-self, so we tend to feel:
4
The benefits of buying summaries with Stuvia:
Guaranteed quality through customer reviews
Stuvia customers have reviewed more than 700,000 summaries. This how you know that you are buying the best documents.
Quick and easy check-out
You can quickly pay through credit card or Stuvia-credit for the summaries. There is no membership needed.
Focus on what matters
Your fellow students write the study notes themselves, which is why the documents are always reliable and up-to-date. This ensures you quickly get to the core!
Frequently asked questions
What do I get when I buy this document?
You get a PDF, available immediately after your purchase. The purchased document is accessible anytime, anywhere and indefinitely through your profile.
Satisfaction guarantee: how does it work?
Our satisfaction guarantee ensures that you always find a study document that suits you well. You fill out a form, and our customer service team takes care of the rest.
Who am I buying these notes from?
Stuvia is a marketplace, so you are not buying this document from us, but from seller martinahavlenova. Stuvia facilitates payment to the seller.
Will I be stuck with a subscription?
No, you only buy these notes for $5.44. You're not tied to anything after your purchase.
Can Stuvia be trusted?
4.6 stars on Google & Trustpilot (+1000 reviews)
78252 documents were sold in the last 30 days
Founded in 2010, the go-to place to buy study notes for 14 years now