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National Identity. Objectives. Upon completion of viewing this slide show on National Identity you should be aware of: How national identities are formed. How much control people have in shaping their own national identities.
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Objectives Upon completion of viewing this slide show on National Identity you should be aware of: • How national identities are formed. • How much control people have in shaping their own national identities. • The uncertainties about national identity that exist in the contemporary British society. • The use of symbols and rituals in constructing and reinforcing national identity. • How globalisation is affecting national identity.
Introduction It is said that nations are more than ‘blood and soil’. Nations are a social construction, reflecting political and cultural interests and changing over time. Nations are geographical, but national identity may equally be shaped by cultural factors such as religion, language, history, wars, etc. Colonialism can also reinforce national identity: 50 years ago world maps were a third pink reflecting the British Empire.
Evaluation of National Identity Paul Gilroy notes how as a black person he feels culturally excluded from feeling British. In addition, many identify with Ireland, Scotland and Wales before the United Kingdom or being British. 'Britain was never a union of equals and Britishness was more closely aligned with Englishness’ (Guibernau and Goldblatt (2000:132).
Stuart Hall and Shared Experiences Stuart Hall (1992) notes that every nation has a collection of stories about shared experiences, sorrows, triumphs and disasters. In the United Kingdom you can understand why there is both a sense of identity about being British as well as identities of being English, Scottish, Welsh, and Irish.
What Does it Mean to be Welsh? Bowie (1993) points out that non-Welsh people think of Wales in terms of broad stereotypes (rugby, male-voice choirs, sheep farming, etc.) However, there are huge cultural divisions between Welsh and non-Welsh speakers, North and South Wales, industrial/urban parts versus agricultural/rural areas. The reality of most nations is that they are cultural 'hybrids'. A sense of 'not being English' can unite many people to identify with being Welsh, or Scottish or Irish.
What Does it Mean to be English? Richard Weight(1999) feels that the English football team is a crucial icon in binding the English together. He sees national identity about emotional and cultural attachments
Globalisation and National Identity James Fulcher argues that, despite the development of a 'global society', national identity is still important. He argues we now live in a 'multi-level society' that has a global level of organisation but also regional, national and sub-national levels.
Benedict Anderson - 'Imagined Communities' Benedict Anderson (1983, pictured left) visualises the nation as an ‘imaginedcommunity’. We will never meet all the people who share our sense of nation, so our national community is imaginary in the sense of existing in our minds. A shared language, and a shared culture gives the preconditions for the development of modern national identity.
Anthony Smith Anthony Smith argues you cannot create nations out of nothing. Nations can only be forged from some pre-existing community, bound by language or culture or religion. This might explain why artificial ‘imposed’ nations such as the old USSR failed and broke up, returning to pre-revolution nations.
Anthony Giddens Anthony Giddens argues national identity is relatively benign whenever it is taken for granted. When national identity becomes threatened people embrace idea of ‘we group’ and ‘them group’. The conflict between Serbs Bosnians and Croats stemmed from the fact they no longer identified themselves as Yugoslavians.
Rituals and Symbols in National Identity Rituals and symbols play a crucial role in reinforcing identity. Emile Durkheim argued the ritual of national ceremonies give nations the cohesion and unity they need. In the UK, the state, monarchy and Church of England are closely linked and form the core of most British national rituals.
Saluting the Flag National identity is equally reaffirmed through the use of symbols, most notably the national flag. The obvious example of this is the daily ritual for school children in the USA of saluting the 'stars and stripes'. The Statue of Liberty is an equally important national symbol.
Madonna Madonna, in her much publicised adoption of British identity, turned to wearing the Union Jack on her clothes. Madonna's Britain is similar to the one British Airways is attempting to symbolise: A Britain that stands for pride, monarchy and global respect.
Remembrance Ceremonies An example of a ritual that reinforces national identity is the Remembrance Day ceremonies that can be found across Britain every November 11th. They reinforce an 'imaginedcommunity' (Anderson) and create a 'we-group' (Giddens) around pride in a national identity. Remembering the war dead or saluting the flag is about defining a ‘them-group’ or ‘other’ as 'not like us'.
Diana’s Funeral The death of Diana is another illustration of Benedict Anderson's concept of the 'imagined community' of the nation.
Conclusions • An old-fashioned view of national identity was to see it in terms of 'blood and soil'. • Nation states have become an established part of the world order. • Some of these so-called nation states are actually 'hybrids' and contain a mix of cultural groups within the frontiers of the state. • National cultures often have a number of internal divisions (they contain different subcultures). • Nations frequently exchange customs, food and dress fashions with one another. • Moreover, they change over time (there are differences between the 'traditional' culture and the present day culture).
Conclusions (continued) • National identities are created through 'official' channels (flags, ceremonies) and unofficial stories people tell about their nation. • Nationalism as a political doctrine attempts to achieve sovereignty for the nation and is linked to geographical boundaries. In Britain, this has led to some devolution for Wales and Scotland. • In an everyday sense, nationalism expresses itself in attachment to the nation and its citizens. • For many people this takes the form of inclusive nationalism but for a smaller number it leads to exclusive nationalism. • Globalisation theorists see national cultures as becoming increasingly a hybrid of values and lifestyles freely flowing across frontiers. • Globalisation has implications for national identities. The distinctiveness of these identities is becoming eroded under the impact of global exchanges.
