Slides

Ethnicity, Nationalism, and Identity

Key Terms

  • Ethnicity: A group that shares common attributes which may include historical, cultural, and institutional elements.

  • Nation: Politicized ethnicity referring to a specific community that claims the right to govern itself based on its distinctive attributes. Key elements involve categorization, comradeship, and a commitment to political autonomy.

  • Nationalism: The pursuit of sovereignty or autonomy on behalf of the national community. It involves the adoption of the nation as the primary source of political legitimacy.

  • National Identity: A collective feeling of belonging to a nation, with shared distinctive attributes.

The Primordial Nation

  • Franjo Tudjman: In his work "Nationalism in Contemporary Europe" (1981), he stated that nations evolved naturally through an objective and complex historical process, based on:

    • Blood, linguistic, and cultural kinship.

    • Common vital links such as fate, homeland, and historical traditions and aims.

    • Nations serve as the essential cells of the human community.

  • Patrick Pearse: In "Ghosts" (1916), he emphasized that national freedom is independent of the accidents of time and circumstance, asserting that it remains constant irrespective of changing men or empires.

The Perennial Nation

  • Anthony D. Smith: In "Myths and Memories of the Nation" (1999), he discussed how ethno-symbolists view nationalism as powerful through:

    • Myths, memories, traditions, and symbols tied to ethnic heritages.

    • The rediscovery and reinterpretation of a popular living past by modern nationalist thinkers.

Defining the Nation

Subjective Perspective

  • Ernest Renan: Described the nation as a daily plebiscite. His views encompass:

    • The combination of a rich legacy of memories from the past with current consent and a shared desire to live together.

    • The need for mutual acknowledgment and the will to valorize the communal heritage.

    • The concepts of memory and forgetting play interdependent roles in unifying a nation.

Imagined Community

  • Benedict Anderson: Characterized the nation as an "imagined community" that is:

    • Limited and sovereign.

    • Defined and mediated through signs and symbols.

  • Historical products key to the emergence of nations include:

    1. Capitalism

    2. Print: The spread of print media has played a significant role in shaping national identity.

    3. The fatality of human linguistic diversity: This diversity is not a falsehood but has a potentially transformative power.

    • Modular in nature, allowing nationalism to be transplanted to various contexts.

The Nation and Economic Modernity

  • Ernest Gellner: Stated that nationalism does not awaken nations to self-consciousness but creates nations in regions where they did not previously exist, thus redefining social identities and communal structures.

The Nation and Political Modernity

  • War and National Identity: Growth in the need for contributions and sacrifices toward state objectives was prompted by warfare.

  • State Formation: Several factors contributed to this phenomenon:

    1. Enhanced communication and contact among citizens.

    2. Standardization: This involved the standardization of language, culture, and religion, which helped in forging a uniform national identity.

    3. Nation-creation served the state by:

    • Cultivating uniformity among varied peoples.

    • Aligning state objectives with popular aspirations.

    • Facilitating the implementation of laws across the territory.

The Languages of France in 1789

  • A comprehensive list of regional languages and dialects spoken in France during the year 1789, highlighting linguistic diversity:

    • Notable dialects include Breton, Corsican, Gallo, Basque, Flemish, Picard, and various forms of Occitan.

    • The historical significance of these languages relates closely to the cultural identity of their regions.

The French Case: National Sovereignty

  • Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen: Article 3 states that the principle of sovereignty resides essentially within the nation. It asserts that no body or individual can exercise authority that does not derive directly from the nation.

France: Territorial Divisions

  • A detailed map and description of France’s ancient provinces, demonstrating the intricate territorial divisions that have impacted both national identity and local governance. These divisions include but are not limited to:

    • Ile-de-France

    • Lorraine

    • Normandie

    • Champagne

    • Provence
      and many more.

  • The historical context of these divisions sheds light on the development of nationalism and regional identities in France over time.