comparative politics final - nation building

what are social categories?

sets of people labeled by rules of membership and shared content about typical traits or expected behaviors

rules of membership

criteria that determine who is or is not part of a social category

category content

traits, stereotypes, or expected behaviors associated with members of a category

in-groups and out-groups

psychological divisions people create between groups they belong to and groups they do not belong to

strength of identity

how strongly someone identifies with a group, influenced by context and can be manipulated

identity and behavior

the strength of group identity influences attitudes and actions

social identities examples

include class, gender, nation, religion, party, and ethnicity

nation

a large group that sees itself as equal, sovereign, and a source of legitimate state authority

national identity

a sense of belonging to a nation and supporting its political aspirations

nationalism

pride in one’s people and belief in their own political destiny

nationalism positive effects

can build citizenship and democracy

nationalism negative effects

can restrict immigration, drive discrimination, or lead to violence

primordialism

theory that nations are ancient, natural, and based on fixed traits like language, religion, or ancestry

example of primordialism

serbs, turks, japanese imperial descent myths, armenian/greek continuity claims

critique of primordialism

if nations are ancient, why did medieval peasants not identify as modern national groups?

modernism

theory that nations are modern creations shaped by capitalism, industrialization, and state-building

modernism examples

french nation built by schools/military; meiji japan standardizing language; turkey’s republican reforms

civic nationalism

membership based on citizenship or residence (jus soli); seen in france, uk, us

ethnic nationalism

membership based on ancestry (jus sanguinis); seen in germany, russia

jus sanguinis

citizenship granted through descent; common in ireland, hungary, italy

jus soli

citizenship based on birth in the territory; common in the u.s. and canada

primordial bonds theory

conflict arises when groups feel their core identity is threatened

critique of primordial bonds

cannot explain why conflict is not constant or why it emerges only at certain times

cultural boundaries theory

some group boundaries make conflict more likely depending on how sharply identities differ

ethnic nationalism and conflict

exclusionary identities can heighten conflict risk but are not always violent

material interests theory

groups use ethnicity to compete for power, wealth, and resources

instrumentalism

leaders manipulate ethnic identity because it benefits their political or economic goals

rational calculation theory

individuals choose identities or actions based on costs and benefits (e.g., secession vs. assimilation)

social psychology theory

conflict emerges from shifting “us vs them” boundaries that change over time