National Cultures & Nationalism Flashcards

1. Foundations and Discourse of Nationalism

• Key Definitions

  • Nation: A social community bound by shared civic or ethnic identity.

  • State: A political entity (country) maintaining authority over a territory.

  • Nation-State Myth: The concept that states and nations perfectly coincide is a myth; no state consists solely of one homogenous nation.

• Nationalism as a Discourse

  • An ensemble of statements, symbols, tropes, metaphors, and actions through which nationhood is performed and understood.

  • Material Practices: Physical actions like waving a flag.

  • Rhetorical Practices: Linguistic choices like using "we" or "us" to imply a national collective.

  • Academic vs. Normative View: Academics treat "patriotism" and "nationalism" as synonymous terms without making normative moral judgments (good vs. bad).

• 7 Conceptual Translations of Nationalism

  1. Self $\rightarrow$ National identity

  2. Collective $\rightarrow$ National community

  3. Territory $\rightarrow$ National homeland

  4. History $\rightarrow$ National heritage

  5. Conflict $\rightarrow$ National sovereignty

  6. Morality $\rightarrow$ National values

  7. Art/Artifacts $\rightarrow$ National tradition

• Imagined Communities (Benedict Anderson)

  • Nations are "imagined" because members will never meet most fellow citizens, yet hold a mental image of their affinity.

  • Social practices and mundane rituals constantly recreate this imagined connection.

2. Typologies, Citizenship, and Resources

• Civic vs. Ethnic Nationalism

  • Civic Nationalism: Defines the nation as a legal-political community based on shared values, political principles, and citizenship regardless of ethnicity (e.g., France, USA).

  • Associated with jus soli ("law of the soil" / birthright citizenship).

  • Ethnic Nationalism: Defines the nation through shared ancestry, genealogy, language, or culture (e.g., UAE, post-Soviet nationalizing states).

  • Associated with jus sanguinis ("law of blood" / ancestral citizenship).

• Nationalism as a Resource

  • Nationalism is a political tool leveraged for specific ends.

  • Identity Entrepreneurs: Political actors who utilize national storylines to sell a political agenda or build personal authority (e.g., Vladimir Putin, Alexei Navalny, Viktor Orb!n).

3. Banal Nationalism and Flagging

• The State System

  • Despite early globalization claims that states would become obsolete, the state remains the dominant form of political authority and citizenship definition.

• Banal Nationalism (Michael Billig)

  • Everyday, routine, and unnoticeable representations of the nation that reinforce national identity without conscious celebration.

• 6 Avenues of Flagging the Nation

  1. Flags: Routine display on buildings, cars, or lapels.

  2. Sports: National teams, international tournaments (e.g., Olympics, FIFA World Cup).

  3. Media & Entertainment: Shows, films, and pop culture reflecting typical national life.

  4. Advertising-scapes: Commercials appealing to patriotic duty ("Made in USA", "Proudly Canadian").

  5. Country-wide Institutions: Public services, armed forces, healthcare (e.g., NHS in the UK), currency.

  6. Monuments & Memorials: Statues, historical landmarks, national parks.

4. Sovereignty and Territorial Politics

• Sovereignty

  • The claim to be the ultimate authority over a territorial area or population, contingent upon international mutual recognition.

• Soviet Nationalities Policies

  • Affirmative Action Empire: The USSR instituted korenizatsiia (indigenization) to make Soviet power feel native by establishing national republics (SSRs) and recording ethnic nationality in passports.

  • 1991 Dissolution: The USSR dissolved along the administrative borders of these ethnic republics, leaving millions of ethnic Russians living outside Russia as a "beached diaspora".

  • Post-Soviet Approaches:

  • Rapid Nationalization: Swift adoption of local language and cultural dominance (e.g., Baltic states).

  • Cautious Nationalization: Gradual balance of ethnic and civic policies (e.g., Kazakhstan, early Ukraine).

• Imperial Nationalism & Conflict

  • Heartland Thesis (Halford Mackinder): Geopolitical theory stating control over Eurasia ("Heartland") yields global control; adopted by Russian imperial nationalists like Alexander Dugin.

  • Russian Invasion of Ukraine: Justified by Russian leadership through storylines rejecting Ukrainian statehood and reinterpreting historical "friendship" as lost imperial glory.

5. Secessionism, Geopolitics, and Education

• Spatial Concepts

  • Enclave: Territory completely surrounded by another state's territory.

  • Exclave: Fragmented piece of sovereign territory separated by land from its main state.

  • Separatism: Movement by a group to secede from a state and establish independent sovereignty (e.g., Catalonia, Basque Country).

  • Irredentism: Movement to secede from one state to join a neighboring state based on shared ethnic or historical ties.

• Forces of Territorial Cohesion

  • Centripetal Forces: Factors unifying a state (e.g., strong economy, shared national identity, effective social welfare).

  • Centrifugal Forces: Factors pulling a state apart (e.g., economic failure, corruption, severe religious or ethnic discrimination).

• Education and National Reproduction

  • Primary & Secondary Education: Early exposure to standardized language, history, geography, and cultural traditions solidifies national identity.

  • Higher Education and Modernity: States invest in top-tier national universities or branch campuses (e.g., KAUST in Saudi Arabia, NYU Abu Dhabi, Education City in Qatar) to assert national modernity and retain local human capital while navigating international influences.

6. Regional Case Studies

• Ukraine and Russia

  • Soviet Legacy & Beached Diaspora: The 1991 dissolution of the USSR along SSR administrative borders created a diaspora of ~25 million ethnic Russians living outside Russia.

  • Conflict & Imperial Narratives: Russian leadership used imperial storylines (e.g., Heartland thesis, rejecting Ukrainian statehood as an Western "Anti-Russia project") to justify the 2014 annexation of Crimea and 2022 full-scale invasion, while Ukrainian national identity unified strongly in response.

• Catalonia (Spain)

  • Autonomy & Suppression: History of distinct linguistic and cultural identity suppressed during the Franco regime (1936–1975) and restored under democracy.

  • Secessionism: Driven by strong centrifugal forces, leading to the disputed 2017 independence referendum and subsequent central government crackdown.

  • Language in Education: Ongoing struggle over educational language mandates, highlighted by protests against 2021 court rulings requiring 25% Spanish instruction.

• Kazakhstan

  • Cautious Nationalization: Managed ethnic diversity and the Russian diaspora post-USSR by relocating the capital from Almaty to Astana to anchor Kazakh territorial unity.

  • Educational Modernity: Established Nazarbayev University in 2010 with English instruction and international faculty to retain domestic talent and signal global modernity.

• The Arabian Peninsula (Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar)

  • Citizenship & Banal Flagging: High reliance on ethnic nationalism (jus sanguinis) and banal nationalism via national day displays and record-breaking flagpoles (e.g., Abu Dhabi, Jeddah).

  • Higher Education Initiatives:

  • Saudi Arabia: Established KAUST to advance Vision 2030 goals, connecting international scientific talent with national economic development.

  • UAE & Qatar: Developed international branch campuses (e.g., NYU Abu Dhabi, Education City in Doha) alongside homegrown institutions like Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU) to balance global modernity with local cultural and religious values.

Key Terms and Definitions

• Nation: A social community bound by shared civic or ethnic identity.

• State: A political entity (country) maintaining authority over a territory.

• Nation-State Myth: The concept that states and nations perfectly coincide; no state consists solely of one homogenous nation.

• Civic Nationalism: Defines the nation as a legal-political community based on shared values, political principles, and citizenship regardless of ethnicity.

• Ethnic Nationalism: Defines the nation through shared ancestry, genealogy, language, or culture.

• Jus Soli: "Law of the soil" or birthright citizenship based on place of birth.

• Jus Sanguinis: "Law of blood" or ancestral citizenship based on genealogy.

• Banal Nationalism: Everyday, routine, and unnoticeable representations of the nation that reinforce national identity without conscious celebration.

• Identity Entrepreneurs: Political actors who utilize national storylines and credentials to sell a political agenda or build authority.

• Imagined Communities: Benedict Anderson's concept that nations are imagined because members will never meet most fellow citizens, yet hold a mental image of their affinity.

• Sovereignty: The claim to be the ultimate authority over a territorial area or population, contingent upon international mutual recognition.

• Korenizatsiia: Soviet indigenization policy aimed at making Soviet power feel native by establishing ethnic republics and local language institutions.

• Beached Diaspora: Ethnic populations (such as ~25 million ethnic Russians) left residing outside their home state following the 1991 dissolution of the USSR.

• Enclave: A territory completely surrounded by another state's territory.

• Exclave: A fragmented piece of sovereign territory separated by land from its main state.

• Separatism: A movement by a group to break away from a state and establish independent sovereignty.

• Irredentism: A movement seeking to secede from one state to join a neighboring state based on shared ethnic or historical ties.

• Centripetal Forces: Factors that pull a state together and unify its political structure.

• Centrifugal Forces: Factors that pull a state apart and destroy social or political ties.

• Heartland Thesis: Halford Mackinder's geopolitical theory stating that control over Eurasia ("Heartland") yields global control.

0. Exam 1 Overview and Logistics

• Schedule: Monday, Sept. 21, 3:45–5:05pm

• Location: Eggers 010 (unless testing at CDR)

• Scope: All lectures and readings from Weeks 1–4 (group presentations summarize required readings)

• Scoring (100 Points Total):

  • Multiple Choice: 40 questions (2 pts each = 80 pts)

  • True/False: 13 questions (1 pt each = 13 pts)

  • Matching: 7 questions (1 pt each = 7 pts)

1. Foundations and Discourse of Nationalism

• Key Definitions

  • Nation: A social community bound by shared civic or ethnic identity.

  • State: A political entity (country) maintaining authority over a territory.

  • Nation-State Myth: The concept that states and nations perfectly coincide is a myth; no state consists solely of one homogenous nation.

• Nationalism as Culture & Ideological Doctrine

  • Culture: Celebrates the nation and/or state with mixed storylines.

  • Doctrine: Ideological assertion that the political unit and national unit should be congruent.

• Terminology: Nationalism vs. Patriotism

  • Academic approach treats them as synonymous terms without making normative moral judgments (good vs. bad).

• Nationalism as a Discourse

  • An ensemble of statements, symbols, tropes, metaphors, understandings, and actions through which nationhood is performed and understood.

  • Material Practices: Physical actions like waving a flag.

  • Rhetorical Practices: Linguistic choices like using "we" or "us" to imply a national collective.

• 7 Conceptual Translations of Nationalism

  1. Self $\rightarrow$ National identity

  2. Collective $\rightarrow$ National community

  3. Territory $\rightarrow$ National homeland

  4. History $\rightarrow$ National heritage

  5. Conflict $\rightarrow$ National sovereignty

  6. Morality $\rightarrow$ National values

  7. Art/Artifacts $\rightarrow$ National tradition

• Imagined Communities (Benedict Anderson)

  • Nations are "imagined" because members will never meet most fellow citizens, yet hold a mental image of their affinity.

  • The nation is imagined but not imaginary: it is the effect of social practices that make such a community appear to exist.

  • Universal code: Mimetic character connected to European empire history; nationalisms worldwide follow similar structural patterns.

2. Typologies, Citizenship, and Resources

• Civic vs. Ethnic Nationalism

  • Civic Nationalism: Defines the nation as a legal-political community based on shared values, political principles, and citizenship regardless of ethnicity (e.g., France, USA, China).

  • Associated with jus soli ("law of the soil" / birthright citizenship).

  • Ethnic Nationalism: Defines the nation through shared ancestry, genealogy, language, or culture (e.g., UAE, post-Soviet nationalizing states).

  • Associated with jus sanguinis ("law of blood" / ancestral citizenship).

  • Mixed Identity Narratives: Most states contain competing civic and ethnic narratives (e.g., "Ukraine for everyone" vs. "Ukraine for Ukrainians").

• Nationalism as a Resource

  • Political tool leveraged for specific ends; inherently neutral as a resource, but control over it is constantly contested.

  • Identity Entrepreneurs: Political actors who utilize national storylines to sell a political agenda or build personal authority (e.g., Vladimir Putin, Alexei Navalny, Viktor Orb!n).

  • Nationalist Credentialism: Using patriotic credentials to establish legitimacy ("The Only Patriotic Choice").

3. Banal Nationalism and Flagging

• The State System & Continued Relevance

  • Early 1990s globalization theories argued states would become obsolete due to technology and international bodies (EU, ASEAN).

  • Critics demonstrate states remain primary: states define citizenship, structure the UN, and form the commonsense framework for everyday language ("we", "us").

  • The state is an "effect" generated through routine social practices.

• Banal Nationalism (Michael Billig)

  • Everyday, routine, and unnoticeable representations of the nation that reinforce national identity without conscious celebration.

• 6 Avenues of Flagging the Nation

  1. Flags: Routine display on buildings, cars, lapels, and oversized flagpoles (e.g., Jeddah, Cairo, Abu Dhabi).

  2. Sports: National teams, hosting tournaments (e.g., Olympics, FIFA World Cup).

  3. Media & Entertainment: Shows, films, pop culture reflecting typical national life (e.g., Korean Hallyu nationalism).

  4. Advertising-scapes: Commercials appealing to patriotic duty ("Made in USA", "Proudly Canadian").

  5. Country-wide Institutions: Public services, armed forces, healthcare (e.g., NHS in the UK), national airlines, currency.

  6. Monuments & Memorials: Statues, historical landmarks, national parks (e.g., Statue of Liberty, 9/11 memorials).

4. Sovereignty and Territorial Politics

• Sovereignty & Homeland

  • Homeland: A territory claimed by a group, endowed with an affective dimension (Fatherland/Motherland).

  • Sovereignty: Claim to be the ultimate authority over a territorial area or population, contingent upon international mutual recognition; an uneven ideal in practice.

• Soviet Nationalities Policies

  • Affirmative Action Empire: USSR instituted korenizatsiia (indigenization) to make Soviet power feel native by establishing national republics (SSRs) and recording ethnic nationality in passports.

  • Lenin's "greatest-danger principle" targeted Great Russian chauvinism.

  • Co-existing civic ("USSR for everyone") and ethnic ("republic for titular group") storylines.

• 1991 Dissolution & Beached Diaspora

  • USSR dissolved along administrative borders of ethnic republics.

  • Created a beached diaspora of ~25 million ethnic Russians living outside Russia.

  • Successor state responses: Rapid nationalization (Baltics, Turkmenistan) vs. Cautious nationalization (Kazakhstan, early Ukraine).

• Imperial vs. Anti-Imperial Nationalism

  • Anti-Imperial Nationalism: Reinterpreting Soviet "friendship of peoples" as imperial oppression (e.g., Euromaidan, dismantling Kyiv Friendship Arch).

  • Imperial Nationalism: Reinterpreting Soviet/Russian Great Power status as lost glory.

  • Heartland Thesis (Halford Mackinder): Control over Eurasia ("Heartland") yields global control; adopted by Russian imperial nationalists like Alexander Dugin.

  • Russian Invasion of Ukraine: Justified by Russian leadership via storylines rejecting Ukrainian statehood as a Western "Anti-Russia project".

5. Secessionism, Geopolitics, and Education

• Spatial Concepts

  • Enclave: Territory completely surrounded by another state's territory.

  • Exclave: Fragmented piece of sovereign territory separated by land from its main state.

  • Separatism: Movement by a group to secede from a state and establish independent sovereignty (e.g., Basque Country, Catalonia).

  • Irredentism: Movement to secede from one state to join a neighboring state based on shared ethnic or historical ties (e.g., United Ireland vision).

• Forces of Territorial Cohesion

  • Centripetal Forces: Factors unifying a state (e.g., strong economy, shared national identity, social welfare, unifying leader).

  • Centrifugal Forces: Factors pulling a state apart (e.g., economic failure, corruption, war, ethnic discrimination).

• Education and National Reproduction

  • Primary and secondary education: Standardized language, state-mandated curricula, textbooks (e.g., Uzbekistan's Upbringing textbooks), history, and geography socialize youth.

  • School practices: Uniforms, pledges, rituals, performance arts (e.g., Mariachi programs).

  • Youth as key target during periods of major social change.

• Global Higher Education & National Modernity

  • Higher education symbolises national modernity and retains/attracts human capital while competing with Anglo-American dominance.

  • Strategy 1 (Strengthen National Unis): KAUST in Saudi Arabia (aligned with Vision 2030), Nazarbayev University in Kazakhstan.

  • Strategy 2 (Branch Campuses / American-Style Unis): NYU Abu Dhabi (managed via Tamkeen), Education City in Qatar (Doha) featuring US branch campuses and homegrown HBKU.

6. Regional Case Studies

• Ukraine and Russia

  • Dissolution created ~25M ethnic Russian beached diaspora.

  • Imperial storylines vs. Ukrainian anti-imperial resistance post-2014 annexation of Crimea and 2022 full-scale invasion.

• Catalonia (Spain)

  • History of distinct culture; suppression during Franco regime (1936–1975) followed by democratic restoration.

  • Disputed 2017 independence referendum and ongoing conflicts over 25% Spanish education language mandates.

• Kazakhstan

  • Cautious nationalization; relocated capital from Almaty to Astana to anchor Kazakh territorial unity.

  • Established Nazarbayev University (2010) with English instruction to retain domestic talent.

• Arabian Peninsula (Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar)

  • Reliance on ethnic nationalism (jus sanguinis) and banal flagging (giant flagpoles in Jeddah, Abu Dhabi).

  • Higher education investments: KAUST (Saudi Vision 2030), NYU Abu Dhabi (UAE), Education City and HBKU (Qatar).

Key Terms and Definitions

• Nation: A social community bound by shared civic or ethnic identity.

• State: A political entity (country) maintaining authority over a territory.

• Nation-State Myth: The concept that states and nations perfectly coincide; no state consists solely of one homogenous nation.

• Civic Nationalism: Defines the nation as a legal-political community based on shared values, political principles, and citizenship regardless of ethnicity.

• Ethnic Nationalism: Defines the nation through shared ancestry, genealogy, language, or culture.

• Jus Soli: "Law of the soil" or birthright citizenship based on place of birth.

• Jus Sanguinis: "Law of blood" or ancestral citizenship based on genealogy.

• Banal Nationalism: Everyday, routine, and unnoticeable representations of the nation that reinforce national identity without conscious celebration.

• Identity Entrepreneurs: Political actors who utilize national storylines and credentials to sell a political agenda or build authority.

• Imagined Communities: Benedict Anderson's concept that nations are imagined because members will never meet most fellow citizens, yet hold a mental image of their affinity.

• Sovereignty: The claim to be the ultimate authority over a territorial area or population, contingent upon international mutual recognition.

• Korenizatsiia: Soviet indigenization policy aimed at making Soviet power feel native by establishing ethnic republics and local language institutions.

• Beached Diaspora: Ethnic populations (such as ~25 million ethnic Russians) left residing outside their home state following the 1991 dissolution of the USSR.

• Enclave: A territory completely surrounded by another state's territory.

• Exclave: A fragmented piece of sovereign territory separated by land from its main state.

• Separatism: A movement by a group to break away from a state and establish independent sovereignty.

• Irredentism: A movement seeking to secede from one state to join a neighboring state based on shared ethnic or historical ties.

• Centripetal Forces: Factors that pull a state together and unify its political structure.

• Centrifugal Forces: Factors that pull a state apart and destroy social or political ties.

• Heartland Thesis: Halford Mackinder's geopolitical theory stating that control over Eurasia ("Heartland") yields global control.