Social Studies 20 Unit I - Nation & Identity Vocabulary Flashcards

Vocabulary flashcards covering key terms and core concepts from Social Studies 20 Unit I: Nation & Identity.

Nation

A large group of people united by common bonds such as culture, language, history, ethnicity, and territory.

Country

A distinct physical territory with a government and official borders that are recognized by other countries.

Nation-state

A country that has physical borders and a single government that makes laws and conducts business on behalf of its citizens.

International

Between countries or nation-states, where they co-operate to promote peace, trade, health, human rights, and protection of cultures.

Patriotism

Love of country and an interest in its well-being, representing a sense of loyalty expressed in various ways.

Ethnic

Racial, cultural, or linguistic characteristics shared by a group of people forming a collective identity.

Sovereignty

The political authority to control one's own affairs.

Self-determination

The power of people in a country or nation to make their own decisions about what is in their interest and control their own affairs.

Civic Nation

A group of people who agree to live together according to particular values and beliefs expressed as laws, regardless of ethnicity, culture, or language.

Constitution

A legal document containing core laws that define a country and lay out the basic rules on which society is built and governed.

Collective Identity

The shared sense of belonging to a group based on common interests, experiences, values, or social categories such as culture, religion, or nationality.

Linguistics

The study of human languages.

Ethnicity

A common cultural background, heritage, language, religion, or national origin based on shared ancestry and social experiences rather than physical traits.

Culture

The shared ways of life, including beliefs, customs, language, food, and traditions, that can be learned, shared, or adopted.

Religion

A shared system of belief, values, and practices that connect people to a spiritual, divine, or supernatural realm.

Nationalism

A political principle holding that the political and national unit should be congruent, prioritizing the country and its collective.

Ethnic Nation

A collective group defined and united by shared ethnic identity, common ancestry, language, religion, and cultural heritage rather than political allegiance.

Civic Nationalism

A form of nationalism where people sharing certain values and beliefs choose to live together in a nation-state under a constitution.

Ethnic Nationalism

A form of nationalism where pre-existing characteristics or traditions lead to a shared sense of nation.

National Identity

A shared sense of belonging to a nation, incorporating common values, symbols, traditions, language, history, and political beliefs.

National Myths

Shared stories, ideas, and beliefs that reveal how a nation perceives itself and contribute to creating a national identity.

Johann Gottlieb Fichte

An 18th-century German philosopher who believed that shared roots—ancestors, culture, and language—form a nation.

Ernest Renan

A 19th-century French philosopher who defined a nation as a soul or spiritual principle based on common past glories and a present common will.

Benedict Anderson

An Irish professor of international studies who defined a nation as an imagined political community conceived as a deep horizontal comradeship.

Understandings of Nation

The core sources of shared identity that shape nationhood, including language, ethnicity, culture, religion, geography, relationship to land, spirituality, and politics.