Introduction Europe as a region of relatively stable though fragile nation states- Each characterized (to varying degrees) by both centripetal and centrifugal forces
- Centripetal: Nationalism (Sports, War, History)
- Centrifugal: Devolution, Globalization, politics of difference
- For N. Johnson (citing Agnew) the complexities and fragility of nation-states have become more pronounced in Post-Cold War era
Question of the geographical ‘scale’ of cultural identity
“. . . a nation is a community of sentiment which would adequately manifest itself in a state of its own; hence, a nation is a community which normally tends to produce a state of its own.” (quoted in Johnson, 1998: 86)
Nations + States=Nation-states European nation-states emerged with the rise of industrial (economic) power and expansion of global empires- Nations are a culturally similar groupings of people
- States are political institutions for organizing nations
- Nation-States are the products of a socio-political process of ‘nation-building’
Nation-states are territorially based. Why?- Nation-state as a way of containing power
- Economic: national currencies, taxation, infrastructure
- Political: representation (hence need for National Censuses)
- Means of normalizing extent of institutions
- Nation-states foster “imagined” community
Benedict Anderson (1983: 15)
Nationalism: ideology that links nation to state- Homogeneity of language
- Printing press: advent of popular literature
- School textbooks
- Standardization of time
Achieved through information: factual and mythical- “invented traditions”
- Suggest continuity with ancient (and significant) past
- Become essence of national “culture”
“Imagined” National Communities Imperial Encounters with the “Other”- Sense of community through encounter with colonial subjects
- Appropriation of “exotic” culture
- Food
- Architecture
- Fabrics
Nationalism as Xenophobia
Summary Nationalism ideology of nationhood: belonging to state (citizenship)
State nationalism challenged by devolution and Supranationalism of EU Nations as imagined communities are being reimagined
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