Nations and Nationalisms: Theories, Practices and Methods International Postgraduate Conference Abstracts
Panel participants
Dmitrijs Andrejevs, University of Manchester, UK
A stage for the nation: performance of national territory during the centenary of independence in the Baltic states
In 2018 Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia (the Baltic states) are celebrating a hundred years of independence. To commemorate this historically pivotal event the three states have developed extensive commemorative programmes that stretch over the period of four and five years – in Latvia from 2017 to 2021, Estonia and Lithuania from 2017 to 2020.
Looking at these commemorative programmes allows us to observe the simultaneous performance of nation as a chronology and geography bounded entity. This paper will focus on the performance of the later within largely chronological structures of commemorative programmes. In doing so, it draws inspiration from the recent work published in Nations and Nationalism by Konstanze N'Guessan, Carola Lentz and Marie-Christin Gabriel on the geography of national day celebrations and investigates the spatial foundations of centenary of independence in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Specifically, It looks at the commemorative structure underpinning the opening events that took place in 2017 to unpack the process of centenary mnemonic-territorialisation.
Ashwati C.K, Jawaharlal Nehru University, India
The Project of Flag Making in South Asia: Symbolic Interpretations of Nationalism and Separatism
Nation-states in erstwhile British colonies of the South Asian region over the years developed myriad interpretations in defining and shaping their nationalisms. In the course of nation and state building processes, debate on the construction of respective flags as representation of everyday nationalism captured the political milieu, whereas demands for inculcation of specific symbols to signify politics of belonging was spearheaded among the political elites, to be codified legally and constitutionally. This paper’s objective is to identify three broad themes in understanding the politics of flag making in Southern Asia. First theme presents the project of flag making under three categories that are ethnic-symbolic, secular, and revolutionary. Second theme addresses the debate which gave the final codification under the law. Third theme sets an enquiry into the broad nationalist project of the states, and voices of dissent in terms of separatist movements and their expressions through flags. Separatist movements have formed integral to the politics of South Asia. For the purpose of this paper instrumentalist approach will be applied.
Claire Breniaux, University of Burgundy, France
Young People, Nationalism and National Identity in Scotland
My PhD thesis aims at studying the links between youth, nationalism and national identity in contemporary Scotland. More precisely, my goal is to analyse how young Scottish nationalists see their national identity and how they use it in their campaign for Scotland’s independence. As a case study, I have chosen to work on the student wing of the Scottish National Party, SNP Students – also known as the Federation of Student Nationalists. Indeed, as a lot of students were involved in the 2014 referendum campaign and as they are Scotland’s next generation, studying the views of Scottish students, especially nationalist students, may be interesting as regards Scotland’s future. Participating in this International Postgraduate Conference would enable me to show how my PhD thesis aims at discovering if the political engagement of the members of SNP Students originates from their sense of national identity or from their desire for a social-democratic Scotland, or both. Besides, my presentation would deal with the fact that among the theories which I study, I focus on nationalism, especially on the notion of civic nationalism. As for field research, I would explain why and how I will use quantitative and qualitative methods in order to understand why students from SNP Students got involved in that organisation and which identity they want Scotland to have as a nation: notably, I plan to give them questionnaires and interview them individually and through focus groups. Discussing my ideas and methods with experts and other postgraduate students would enrich my work.
Lorenzo Canepari, University of Edinburgh,
UKYes/No: new nationalisms, referendums for secession and simplification of identities
Since the end of WWII, supranational integration, federalism and devolution have cooled the nationalist passions that contributed to the conflict’s outbreak. They operate on both the institutional and the cultural levels. Some typical nation state structures as rigid borders and centralised administrations have been softened, while national identities are presented as something blurred and complex. By pretending to defend democracy and nations’ sovereignty against foreign interests, the new nationalist movements challenge these models. Referendums on secession are among their most powerful political tools.
Many jurists and social scientists agree that referendums are problematic decision-making instruments. As voters are only asked to answer yes or no to a predetermined question, intricate issues can be presented in rudimentary forms and alternative solutions can be overshadowed, therefore the representation of people’s will can be deformed. Post-structuralist doctrines argue that whenever we use language we do not only express our vision of the world, we also reshape ourselves. The holding of a referendum on secession often starts a public discussion characterized by a marked identity dichotomy and forces the voters to give a precise answer about it. From this angle, it implements a less complex image of the community, notwithstanding its official results.
The comparison between the Scottish referendum (2014) and the Brexit vote (2016) can highlight how the political debate itself altered Britishness. Furthermore, the request for a new Scottish referendum after Brexit’s negotiations shows that these changes involve also the Scottishness-Europeness relationship.
Andy Chiu, University of Warwick, UK
Black and White Chinese on the pitch: Chinese national identity in Hong Kong’s naturalized football players
In the context of Greater China where dual nationality is not allowed, my research looks at the case of naturalized football representatives of Hong Kong and aims to explore the players’ identity construction and negotiation of Chineseness and national identity as national representatives. I argue that the presence of non-ethnic Chinese as Chinese nationals in Hong Kong is a unique phenomenon in the context of Greater China, where ethnicity as Han-Chinese is often articulated. Yet, this ethnonationalistic understanding of Chineseness could be challenged by the presence of naturalized players in Hong Kong’s squad. And, in international football where nationalism and national identity are negotiated and reconstructed, the acceptance/rejection of naturalized players as part of Hong Kong society becomes a case in exploring Chinese identity in Hong Kong. My research will serve as an attempt to explore issues in Chinese nationalism through the lens of sports and reference to the idea of naturalization, offering new insights to our understanding of Chinese national identity.
Joel Chong, SOAS, University of London, UK
Material Nationalism: Envisioning the Post-Cultural Nation
This paper argues that globalisation and the enveloping reach of the global economic order have incited new ways of envisioning the nation – namely, through material nationalism. While classic theories of nationalism have overwhelmingly focused on cultural aspects of the nation – be it ethnicity, religion, or language – the post-Cold War triumph of the global capitalist system and the consolidation of new nation-states has prompted the need for new understandings of the nation; new understandings which take into account the complex entanglement between the nation, economy, class, and development. Material nationalism occurs when the nation is envisioned and built on its material and economic achievements, or the potential for such achievements. The nation is not an ethnic, religious, or linguistic community, but rather a community ‘imagined’ through its shared journey to economic and material development. It is produced and reproduced materially through the sustained economic performance of the nation-state, with national identity and pride linked to overcoming the (economical) odds. Material nationalism thus transcends the constrains of the ‘cultural’ nation and defines the nation in material and economic terms, as opposed to cultural formulations of the nation. It is a post-cultural response to the traditional question of nationhood, and an increasingly attractive option in the era of rapid industrialisation and economic modernisation.
This paper offers a theorisation of material nationalism, examining its place within nationalism theory canon, and explores the concept through the qualitative analysis of primary sources and review of secondary literature in three case studies – post- independence Singapore, reformist China, and post-WWII Japan.
Daniel Chukwuemeka, Godfrey Okoye University, Nigeria
Afro-Pessimism and the Question of Biafran Nationalism
Black fundamentalists adopted the term Afro-pessimism as a way to acknowledge the power and vivacity of the pliability and radical imagination of Africans. Yet some proponents of Afro-pessimism have used it to articulate the subject-position of doubt as to whether Africans are capable of self-rule in response to the massive, unending consequences and historical upsets of colonialism. Furthermore, in international relations, Afro-pessimism is a Western construct regarding the ongoing depiction of Africa and Africans in Western media in terms of extreme poverty and backwardness by reflecting Eurocentric images and rhetoric. As Noah Bassil noted in ‘The Roots of Afropessimism: The British Invention of the “Dark Continent”’, the media tend to use such rhetoric to victimize and exoticize Africa for its ongoing struggles with poverty and lack of modern development. The victimization is then visible in the humanitarian and development projects, which sometimes use the language of ‘saving’ African people from such humanitarian disasters. I argue that, drawing from the Biafran quest for separate national entity from Nigeria as representative of the first demonstration of Afro- pessimism stated above, the second version of Afro-pessimism which subtly defends the merits of white domination can be a positive contraption atoning for its ugly past deeds if only it would—not merely establish humanitarian aids in Africa, but instead—support the struggle for indigenous African nationhood, since the bane of African politics and economy is ethnic conflicts in the nation-states occasioned by colonialism.
Jin Dai, Loughborough University, UK
A cross-generational analysis of media and identity among Han immigrants in Xinjiang since 1950s
Issues of media use and identity negotiation among Han Chinese immigrants living in China’s multi-ethnic border region Xinjiang have so far attracted limited attention. Since the establishment of the PRC in 1949, several generations of Han immigrants have settled and gradually integrated into Xinjiang society. Their hybrid identities as “Han immigrants” and “Xinjiangers”, as well as members of the wider “Chinese nation”, became fluid and dynamic through different generations. Based on a media ethnography in Shihezi city, Xinjiang, this research project, which is due to start in July 2018, intends to investigate how Xinjiang’s Han migrants of different generations negotiate connections between China, Xinjiang, and their original homeland in their daily media engagement; and how the differences of media use, intergenerational family communication, and multi-cultural integration across generations influenced their different self-ascriptions as “Chinese”, “Han immigrant” and “Xinjianger”. Preliminary pilot investigation suggests that the hybrid identities of “Han migrant” and “localized Xinjianger” are not static; they can disassemble and reconfigure at certain moments in the immigrant experience, especially during important life transitions and major public crisis such as those provoked by terrorist attacks in Xinjiang in recent years. This conference paper will present the preliminary findings of the literature review and outline the aims, research questions and methodology of the project.
Karolis Dambrauskas, Lithuanian Social Research Centre, Institute for Ethnic Studies, Lithuania
Neo-liberal Governmentality and National Minorities in a Post-socialist State
The end of Cold War brought the belief that democratization of former-soviet republics would make nationalism fade away. Initially, successful Europeanization confirmed such assumptions. However, the shift towards illiberal democracy in CEE suggests these optimistic expectations were unfounded. This research problematises this seemingly consolidated nature of post-socialist democratic polities and asks how existing nationalist tensions (do not) roll-out into bigger conflicts. State–Polish minority conflict in Lithuania has not generated violence, despite continued discontent among the Poles with the country's constant inability to resolve the minority problems. The state stalls the solution of minority problems and preserves the status quo of existing power relations. The research approaches the minority governance in post-socialist Lithuania through a micro perspective and argues that existing tensions between the national majority and minority are moderated by the interplay of two different, yet mutually supportive types of governmentality – neo-liberal (Ferguson 2010) and etno-democratic (Smooha 2002). The state’s neo-liberal withdrawal from the governance of its national minorities takes place through: a) interpellating Poles as self-responsible, rational citizens capable of governing themselves alone; b) integrating them not into the state but into the democratic marked society. Becoming “smaller” helps the state to preserve its national character through conflict avoidance: the self-responsibilization (Rose 1996) of national minorities suggest that there’s neither national majority nor minority, among whom there could be a conflict, only individuals that have to solve their collective problems individually through market mechanisms.
Martin Deakin, University of Reading, UK
Regionalists and Clients: Why the Spanish far-right failed in sharing the fortunes of the Golden Dawn in Greece
The electoral success of the Golden Dawn in the 2012 and 2015 Greek general elections sent shockwaves throughout the political world as it challenged the belief that neo-Fascist parties are terminally discredited within a contemporary Europe that experienced both Nazism and right-wing authoritarianism in the last century alone. However, this success has not been matched in Spain, a country that not only shares demand and supply similarities with Greece but has also experienced the socioeconomic shock brought on by the Eurozone debt crisis in 2009. Essentially, this project utilises the comparative method in order to provide an empirical argument for Golden Dawn’s success, employing Mill’s Method of Difference to justify case selection as well as a process tracing model to substantiate a causal mechanism. Doing so, the argument centres on the role of autonomous regions as well as another concept that has received little academic attention – clientelism. With an initial variation based on regional autonomy failing to explain the Golden Dawn entirely, this project uses the Party Patronage Index devised by Kopecký et.al as a proxy for clientelism in order to extend the comparison based on the individual countries’ position on this index. This empirical detailed comparison will support my essential argument that far-right parties are able to penetrate political systems as a result of the established party system collapsing under the weight of tight clientelism. Consequently, not only is this condition enabled by the absence of autonomous regions but it has defined Greek politics whilst separated it from Spain.
Maike Dinger, University of Münster, Germany
Writers in the Public Sphere: National Fiction(s) of the 2014 Scottish Independence Referendum
In 2014, the Scottish referendum on political independence was, as a matter of national and transnational interest, widely discussed in the media and (British) society at large. In these public negotiations of possible independence, arguments frequently linked Scotland’s writers to claims of national identity and nation, confirming rather than challenging nationalist structures and narratives. Despite the plurality of literary voices and actors, such references painted a unifying image of the literary scene in support of an independent nation-state and, ultimately, a Yes vote. Based on these observations, this paper discusses how Scottish writers participated and were referenced in the discourse on Scottish independence. By highlighting how their artistic and critical statements as well as activism counter, cross and intersect with national(ist) narratives of identification, this paper aims to outline how Scottish writers’ presumed support for “project independence” was employed in the public discourse. In questioning how such media representations tie in with Scottish self-perception, negotiations of national identity and literature(s), fusions and crossings between Scottish fiction and national politics of independence are evidenced. The depiction of Scottish writers as the nation’s ideal spokespeople within the public sphere as “public intellectuals” and figureheads for independence, raises questions as to the politicisation and nationalist objectification of both the artists and their art. The consequent crossing between and merging of the “political field” with that of literary production contributed largely, this paper argues, to the recent discourse on Scottish independence and shaped opinion-making processes in the mediated “public sphere” of print media. Such a “narration of the nation”, that manifests as the intersection of the literary and political, links to theorisations of nationalism and nation-building processes."
Jonathan Harris, University of Cambridge, UK
The Making of an Amazigh Diaspora: Nation or Social Movement?
Who, or what, makes a diaspora? How is it defined? Beyond representing a methodological problem for political geographers, what are the politics of embodying, performing (Richardson, 2015) and claiming to constitute (Sheffer, 2006) a diaspora, and what effects do these politics have on rescaling identities (Charron and Diener, 2015) and territorialities (Carter, 2005)? This paper draws on conceptual approaches of diaspora as process, wherein the boundaries of nation, state, community and identity are (de)constructed (Mavroudi, 2007). Diaspora and nation are inseparable, but not homologous (Mulligan, 2002). Focusing on the Amazigh in France, it unpacks diaspora- scripted imaginative geographies of ‘homeland’ and the work that they do by approaching the ‘diasporic Amazigh movement’ as both a social movement and a nation. As a social movement (Sökefeld, 2006; Collyer, 2008), its framing processes gradually redefine the understanding of the Amazigh diaspora among those that identify with it, whilst as a nation it is an ‘imagined community’ (Anderson, 2006), requiring constant maintenance and always in process, with a putative identity based on shared culture, language, religion, history, ethnicity and ‘homeland’. This paper introduces this bifocal theoretical lens of nation/movement, through the empirical example of recent fieldwork. It outlines how the discourses and practices of diasporic Amazigh association members frame the national spaces of North Africa at the same time as shaping the diaspora itself.
Jaakko Heiskanen, University of Cambridge, UK
The Janus-face of nationalism
Numerous scholars have referred to the 'Janus-faced' or 'Jekyll and Hyde' quality of nationalism. Typologies of nationalism similarly tend to fall into a binary structure: ethnic/civic, Eastern/Western, old/new, state-framed/counter-state, et cetera. This paper proposes to discuss the structural reasons behind this binary structure. The argument that is presented leverages on the philosophy of Jacques Derrida to argue that nationalism does not signal a presence, but rather an inherent lack at the core of the modern state. The tension between the modern state's claim to universality and its inherently particularistic historical and geographical existence engenders a primordial condition of ontological insecurity which, in turn, gives rise to nationalism as a legitimating discourse. Due to the fact that nationalism indicates a lack (void, gap) rather than a positive presence, any attempt to define nationalism in positive terms necessarily produces a 'splitting' effect whereby nationalism divides into two, thereby producing its Janus-faced quality. In other words, the dichotomisation of nationalism is a structurally necessary by-product of any attempt to 'positivise' the lack at the core of the modern state. The implications of this dichotomisation of nationalism for inter- national relations are also discussed
Jina Lee, University of the Arts London, UK
Drawing ‘New Maps’ of New Malden: Ethnographical enquiry into the Joseonjok people by means of drawing practice
As an artist-researcher, my research aims to deconstruct the notion of territorial borders by drawing ‘new maps’ for Joseonjok people who reside in New Malden, London. Joseonjok people are an ethnic group mostly living in the northeastern provinces of China. In this research, they are seen as a border-crosser, who were originally inherited as Korean but defined politically as Chinese. Due to short working spaces in their homeland, many of people leave their families behind and choose to live abroad working for South Koreans. Those who reside in London are normally based in New Malden, where many Koreans live. Based on Gayatri Spivak’s theory, my map-drawings examine how the instruments through which foreign labourer’s lives are managed under regimes of authority over power and how the social, political and cultural movements can be referenced to analyse the existing borders on a map. As a practice-based research, it is to re- examine the role of drawing in maps as an analytical/creative language in order to test out and develop mapmaking. It reflects upon site-specific and ethnographic research amongst Joseonjok and their surroundings such as socio-economical, political and physical status in Greater London. Seen as a participative and site-specific work with Joseonjok immigrants, the inclusion of Joseonjok in London reflects the need for a map that asks not just where they are but where do they fit in the London landscape. As a result, the maps became a life-map that shows their journeys, which the ‘ordinary’ map cannot integrate.
Philip Luther-Davies, University of Cambridge, UK
Municipal Politics, "Ethnic" Resentment and Nationalism in Israel: A Case Study
My PhD dissertation tackles the complex connections between class, race and ethnicity, and nationalism in Israel via an intrastate comparative study of three municipalities in the centre of the country. The paper will present empirical findings from one of these cities, a predominantly Mizrachi and Sephardic Jewish city, from my quantitative and qualitative research into it, and will discuss how the "local" helps inform our theoretical understanding of, specifically, Zionism but also broader queries about nationalism. Furthermore, I suggest that municipal politics may also hold the key to breaking polities from the strictures imposed by the nation and its attendant elite-led nationalisms.
Malena Müller, University of Edinburgh, UK
Building Peru on stage. Musical performance and national narrative
The experience of everyday life in Lima, Peru’s capital, is characterized by fragmentation, racism and social inequality. It’s a fast expanding, highly diverse city with a growing crime rate and economic inequality. In marked contrast to this experience some groups started to articulate a counterproposal, a utopia of diversity, a community of differences sustained by the commercialization of the countries cultural and natural heterogeneity. A narrative also promoted by the state through the campaigns of national branding. It evolves around the idea of fusion, that the mixing of cultural elements is a way to renew and moreover a way to mirror the core characteristics of Peruvianess - diversity. During a show the vocalist of a known fusion rock band says: “We are building Peru here on stage” (Julio Pérez, La Sarita, 2015). This notion of “building Peru on stage” is a popular idea, especially among those bands mixing western and traditional music elements. From HipHop in Quechua, Reggae or Rock with Cumbia elements. They call upon mother earth, the knowledge of ancient cultures and their way of coexistence with nature. The countryside and the rural culture are idealized, contrasting the vast processes of urbanization characterizing Peruvian society. Their performances reflect a desire to discover the origin and heritage of the true authentic Peruvian culture, of its expressions and the ambition to forge a socially viable and inclusive concept of nation which embraces modernity without losing the past. This paper focuses on the analysis of these kinds of representations in musical performances.
Ryan Nolan, University College Dublin, Ireland
Reproducing the Rising: Politicized Narratives of Irish History in the Centenary Commemorations of the 1916 Rising
In this paper titled ‘Reproducing the Rising: Politicized Narratives of Irish History in the Centenary Commemorations of the 1916 Rising’, a critical analysis of the state-led commemorations of 2016 is presented. Looking at Irish nationalism and the 1916 Centenary Commemorations, this paper will shed light on the role that elite- representations of the Irish nation, has in sculpting the content/parameters of these commemorative events. Examining speeches dated throughout the Centenary Commemorative year sourced from key social and political actors and adopting the methodology of critical-discourse analysis this paper strives to uncover the latent influences and subtle alterations of history adopted in this commemorative period. This paper attempts to unearth the significant role that elite representations of the Rising have in rewriting the past into a cleaner and more accessible narrative. A narrative which generates legitimacy for Ireland’s political elites through the construction of inconsistent ties with Ireland’s past. This paper exposes the politicization of Irish memory by the political elite in these commemorations, and details how Irish history has been distorted in the 2016 commemorations to specifically generate ties of legitimacy between the contemporary political elite and the history, ideologies and philosophies of the 1916 participants. This paper argues that the state-led commemorations adopted a political use of Irish historical memory, one which distorted the facts of the 1916 Rising to present a historical narrative which served to legitimate the government in power and justify the variety of political and social inequalities in Ireland in 2016.
Chijioke Kizito Onah, Goethe University of Frankfurt, Germany
Postcolonial Fever? The Ambivalence of Anticolonial Rhetoric in Chielo Zona Eze’s The Trial of Robert Mugabe and Douglas Rogers’ The Last Resort
Most of the new leaders who took over governance following independence in Africa were foremost nationalists who not only fought aggressively to overthrow colonialism, but created a vision of freedom and oneness once independence is achieved. Zimbabwe was not different. However, in Zimbabwe, these same elites, upon assuming power, continued their constant rhetoric against colonialism and its legacies while drawing on their collective history to perpetuate their own despotism furthering divisions along political, race and ethnic lines to achieve this end. This resentment turns to postcolonial fever, and the taste of nationalism become sours as the once envisioned freedom of independence is denied. This paper hopes to analyse the failure of Zimbabwean nationalists to move beyond the anticolonial rhetoric of the liberation struggle era, and attend to the task of nation-building. Judged in retrospect now by their words as nationalist leaders, one sees nothing but ambivalence and contradictions. Drawing theoretical insights from Benedict Anderson and Franz Fanon’s study on nationalism and nation-building as well as Achille Mbembe and Chielozona Eze’s study on decolonisation in post-independent African states; this study focuses on two Zimbabwean texts, Chielo Zona’s The Trial of Robert Mugabe and Douglas Rogers’ The Last Resort, a novel and a memoir respectively, to explore the ambivalence of anticolonial rhetoric in post-independent Zimbabwe, and the failures of the nationalist vision.
Andrea Peinhopf, University College London, UK
A small nation in protracted conflict: Exploring 'ethnic claustrophobia' in Abkhazia
In my presentation, I will explore the phenomenon of ‘ethnic claustrophobia’ that I encountered during my fieldwork in the unrecognised Republic of Abkhazia. After a secessionist war in the early 1990s, which resulted in the displacement of the majority of the local Georgian population, Abkhazia became de facto independent from Georgia but has remained largely internationally isolated ever since. While war and depopulation produced a strong sense of solidarity and ‘cultural intimacy’ among the ethnic Abkhaz community against the Georgian 'Other', I frequently encountered people who expressed the need to ‘take a break’ from their tightly-knit community “where everyone knows everyone”. When do people seek to go beyond their ethnic group and why? In particular, I will illustrate how, especially in the context of strict traditions, the intimacy of a small nation can come to be seen as an obstacle to the realisation of what my informants called a ‘normal life’. This can especially manifest itself in sexual and romantic relationships, such as online dating with people from other post-Soviet countries or encounters with Russian tourists, where relief and distraction is sought from one’s own community. Drawing on data that I collected during several months of fieldwork, I will therefore investigate how war, depopulation, protracted conflict and international isolation affect intra-group relations, thereby shifting the focus from inter- ethnic to intra-ethnic relations.
Daniel Joseph Schulte, Brown University, USA
The Effect of Perceptions about the Nation’s Control on Susceptibility to Misinformation about Immigration
This project contributes to recent studies in the fields of nationalism and political psychology literatures that address the role of misinformation about immigration in the rise of populism. I use a survey experiment to explore the relationship between a citizen’s sense of their country’s control and the citizen’s susceptibility to misinformation about immigration. How does information about a country’s comparable level of control affect the respondent’s likelihood of believing false statements about immigrants? I specifically test whether priming a survey participant about their country’s relative status in the domains of economic, military, and democratic performance will make them less susceptible to backfire effects when misinformation about immigration is corrected. The survey is administered to likely voters in the US, but the study has probable implications for global populism studies. Using several false Trump statements about immigration, I design a three-prong survey consisting of a prime, misinformation & correction, and survey questions. The survey tests the hypothesis that a sense of a country’s strong control and high performance in different domains will lead participants to be less susceptible to false statements about immigration. Methodologically, this project helps explore the ways in which survey experiments can illuminate the microprocesses of nationalism.
Asantha Senevirathna, General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University, Sri Lanka
The Impact of British Colonial Rule on Ethnic Nationalism in South Asia
The Ethnic Nationalism in South Asia is a factor of central importance in regional sub-system. In the ex-colonial countries of South Asia, state formation took place under the auspices of British empire the problem of ethnic nationalism has become a much more widespread phenomenon. India and Pakistan were divided on the base of religion, where the distinct ethnic features of Bengalis were ignored, later resulted in the creation of Bangladesh via a bloody war among the India and Pakistan. Tamil ethnic nationalism which originated in Tamil Nadu and later turned into violent arms struggles in Sri Lanka claimed thousands of lives. The agitations of Sikhs based on Punjab continues to be a threat to both India and Pakistan. The Pashtun land is divided among the Afghanistan and Pakistan had created boarder tensions among the two nations and to date remains a crucial factor in their relations. The Baluchi nationalism in Pakistan has become a problem not only for Pakistan but for the region. Surprisingly the external support for ethic nationalism in South Asia is largely organized in present day developed nations of former British empire such as Britain itself, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa and United States. The study is focusing in examining the criteria that British colonial rulers applied to demarcate borders between ethnically diverse regions of South Asia post-world war II period. Further, the study seeks to examine the contemporary transnational ethnic nationalism in South Asia and how its activities are organized in the world.
Arzuu Sheranova, Corvinus University of Budapest, Hungary
Virtual Democracies and Nationalisms: Making Parallels between Illiberal Democracies and Nationalisms in Post-communist Turkmenistan and Tajikistan
Central Asian (CA) states, a “products of Soviet ethnic engineering” (Gerlach 2016, 948) missed so-called “traditional Westphalian State or national consciousness” (Massansalvador 2010, 4), as they did not seek for independence from Russia, they had to announce independence only after the collapse of the Soviet Union. The post- communist CA region has hybrid or virtual democratic (illiberal) regimes (Olcott 1996, Roy 2008, 2010, Wilson 2005, Heathershaw 2013). According to some studies, nationalism in CA is an alternative to lacking in the region liberal democracy (Bingol 2004). Indeed, opposite to deep nationalization efforts (national languages elevation, re-construction of myths and symbols, re-writing of history, etc.), CA states attempted lesser efforts to build liberal democracies (human rights violation practices, unfair elections, restriction of mass media freedom, pressure on civil society, etc.). Despite there are studies which closely examine causal relations between democracy and nationalism in CA, there are lack of studies which further look at how nationalism adapts into a specific type of democracy. The paper argues that nationalism in CA is virtual, similar to virtual illiberal democratic regimes in the region. The research examines how nationalism becomes hybrid or virtual in non-democratic illiberal settings of Turkmenistan and Tajikistan. This study by closely examining illiberal democratic regimes in the post-communist region, namely in Turkmenistan and Tajikistan, explores illiberal democracies impact on nationalism and will contribute to broader nationalism and democracy studies in post-communist world.
Thomas Stewart, University of Edinburgh, UK
Catholics and Scottish Nationalism in Dundee since the 1970s
After the large-scale migration of Irish in the 19th century, Catholics became the largest and most distinct minority group in Scotland. Even generations after their ancestors first arrived in the country, this group had a difficult relationship with Scottish nationality and political nationalism. Over the course of the last decades of the 20th century, this changed markedly, with Catholics growing increasingly at ease with Scottish identity and nationalism. This paper examines this process in the city of Dundee, which possessed the largest Catholic community in the country outside of Glasgow and its environs. It will question the extent to which the shift in the group’s attitudes were a result of Scottish-wide social change or the political approach adopted by Scottish nationalists themselves. It will demonstrate the value of a grassroots approach to analysing nationalism, highlighting differences between the experience of Catholics in Dundee and in other parts of Scotland. Through its study of the city, it will explore the means by which an entrenched minority’s attitudes to nationalism shifted from hostility to open support over the course of a few decades. In doing so it will shed light on the complex and changeable relationship between nationalism and minority populations.
Rebecca Tan, University of Bristol, UK
Living as One United Peoples: A Study of Multiculturalism and Singaporean Nationhood
Multiculturalism has often been framed as a liberal project which seeks to maximise individual freedoms through a recognition and accommodation of cultural difference. However, such an approach ignores the reality of multiculturalism practised in illiberal settings which tends to emphasize communitarian goals over individual rights. Through a study of multiculturalism in Singapore, I argue that multiculturalism is forwarded by the state as a nation-building effort to bridge ethnic and religious divides for the purpose of upholding societal cohesion and stability. However, multiculturalism is not merely a tool to increase inclusivity, but also functions to demarcate the boundaries of the nation. The creation of a national ethos of multiculturalism signals that one needs to demonstrate an acceptance of cultural diversity in order to be accepted as a legitimate and desirable member of Singaporean society, and failing to do so results in state and social censure.
Vanessa Tautter, University of Graz, Austria
Claiming Victimhood from the Right: Narratives of Victimisation in Victim-Oriented Societies
This paper will focus on the theoretical aspects of my PhD research on right-wing memory in Austria and Northern Ireland. It will discuss how positioning themselves as victims in narratives about the past yields recognition and political agency for supporters of right-wing groups in victim-oriented memory cultures. In societies that have been shaped by the acceptance of universal human rights,especially for minorities, and by the influence of emancipation and decolonisation movements, historical victimhood grants special status and political agency in the present. Thus, gaining greater ‘presence’ by identifying as victim has become increasingly attractive and right-wing organisations use this victim-orientation to assert their position. In this way, I argue that ‘victimhood’ has become a transnational “travelling memory” (Erll 2011) concept, central to cultural negotiation in Europe. Adapting Gramsci’s theory of cultural hegemony, Alain de Benoist (2017) has proclaimed the need to (re-)gain cultural dominance for conservative ideologies to subvert the supposedly progressive status quo. To do so, right-wing groups use the contemporary victim-oriented memory regime for their own purposes and connect it to regional and/or national memory traditions. By doing so, they speak to those members of society who fear a reversal of their sociocultural and political position. In the context of such cultural negotiation, right-wing memory agents also reverse and apply analytical frames similar to those found in postcolonial and intersectional gender studies, thus whitewashing their actual status. Viewed from this perspective, white men are oftentimes depicted as the ultimate ‘victims’ in progressive societies.
Martin Tharp Charles University, Prague
Kokoschka, Mondrian, Gellner: An Intellectual Sociology of the Post-Habsburg Legacy in Nationalism Studies
The present contribution addresses the intellectual currents in nationalism studies derived from the experience of European national self-configuration, specifically the language-based nations emerging within, and after 1918 out of, the Habsburg Empire. Models of nation-formation conceived by scholars with direct personal experience in Habsburg and post-Habsburg Europe (Kohn, Gellner, Hroch) not only have had significant impact on scholarship, but equally have entered into popularising or journalistic discourse as ideas with trajectories beyond their authors’ originalformulations. At the same time, Eurocentric formulations are increasingly revealed to be intellectually limited in their application outside the traditional Global North. My aim here is, on the one hand, to “provincialise” (Chakrabarty 2000) the Habsburg-based interpretations to test their limits and possibilities, yet equally to trace their historical course within the pre- and post-1989 “West” and “East” of the Global North: to anchor them within the sociology of academic, dissident and policy-making spheres of the late 20th century. Examining the situation, i.e. “situatedness” of Central European nationalism and its actors - whether as nationalism’s creators or explicators – across a historic framework between 1918 and 1989 is intended not only as an examination of assumptions present within the disciplines of nationalism studies, but equally as a reflection of the self-configuration of the discipline(s) as equally participant as much asobserver in the processes around nations and national collectivities.
Maciej Troć University of Warsaw, Poland
Supraconstitutionalism as a response to re-nationalization and collapse of political unions
A modern state since the widespread adoption of constitutionalism is reigned by positive law, most importantly constitutions. There are some specific characteristics of national constitutionalism as defined by Dieter Grimm that should be considered in this context. Firstly, constitutional regulations are supposed to be comprehensive in the sense that no extra-constitutional ways and means to exercise public power are recognized. Secondly, constitutional law finds its origin with the people as the only legitimate source of power. It can be easily observed that any political union composed of states and enjoying certain powers in any given field is directly incompatible with the above-mentioned characteristics of constitutionalism. Positive law accounts for this incompatibility in various manners, for instance through the concept of pooled sovereignty. It can be argued, however, that such measures are only effective in the short term as the incompatibilities between the national state based on constitutionalism nd the very nature of political unions are still there. If this is the case, alternative forms of political and legal organization may be considered, supraconstitutionalism being one of the most prominent in this group. It is argued that as supraconstitutionalism does not aim to provide comprehensive regulations in the form of positive law and does not find its origin exclusively with the people, it may provide more successfully for the needs ofmodern world and prevent re-nationalization and disintegration of political unions.
Leila Wilmers Loughborough University, UK
Narratives of continuity in times of change: individual constructions of the nation in two
The social, cultural and economic changes brought by accelerated globalisation have been accompanied by a surge in nationalist movements in many societies. As states and individuals adapt to new opportunities and insecurities, the nation still resonates as a framework for self-identification and making sense of the world. Looking beyond institutional processes of nation-building, studies have illuminated the reproduction of national myths and loyalties through everyday practices as well as commemorative events that reinforce a sense of the nation’s temporal continuity. Yet little is known of how and why people reconcile ideas of continuity of the nation with lived experiences of societal change. This paper confronts the question by exploring the construction of narratives of the nation’s continuity among citizens of two economically and culturally >dynamic cities in post-Soviet Russia: Kazan and Yekaterinburg. Here, state visions of the young post-Soviet Russian nation are pitched to unite a geographically dispersed and multi-ethnic population that is increasingly globally connected. I consider how narratives of continuity underpinning these visions are interpreted and reconceived by the public. The study data, collected in April-June 2018 in the two cities, comprises interviews with men and women of different ages, socio-economic and ethnic backgrounds, and observation of public events on national themes. In this paper, I present findings on the roles played by narratives of a nation’s continuity in managing lived experience of globalisation and the state.
Yi Xu, Loughborough University, UK
Rule of Law and the Emergence of Chinese Identity
‘Rule of law’ is a principle that emphasizes the superior position of law against any other types of authority in society. In 359 BC, Gongsun Yang started a series of reform in Qin Kingdom during China’s warring-state period, which marks the beginning of ‘rule of law’ in China. Through introducing a portfolio of penal laws, Yang’s reform had united people across the kingdom by punishment and reward, which had thus unified the thoughts and code of conduct of the general public. Yang’s reform, during which ‘rule of law’ had for the first time been introduced in China, is of great importance to the unification of China as well as the formation of Chinese identity. Though aiming at preparing for and wining the wars, the reform had actually attempted to achieve good governance through establishing an effective bureaucracy under a well-organized legal system, encouraging material reproduction, restraining noble privileges, as well as unifying the measurements and standards across the kingdom. As a consequence of Yang’s reform, people across Qin Kingdom had been motivated and forced into a homogenized society that was closely united under a centralized authority. Therefore, the reform carried out by Lord Shang under the ‘rule of law’ had strengthened the competitiveness of Qin Kingdom against other Chinese kingdoms that were comparatively loosely bonded, boosted the unification of China and the founding of Qin Empire as the first-ever centralized Chinese empire 125 years later in year 221 BC, since when a common Chinese identity started to emerge.