Banal nationalism

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"Made in West Germany" on a cassette deck manufactured in the 1980s. Subtle references to the nation like these can be examples of banal nationalism, instilling a sense of pride through everyday items without overt proclamations of love for one's country. Revox B215 - serial number, made in Germany.jpg
"Made in West Germany" on a cassette deck manufactured in the 1980s. Subtle references to the nation like these can be examples of banal nationalism, instilling a sense of pride through everyday items without overt proclamations of love for one's country.

Banal nationalism refers to everyday representations of a nation, which build a sense of shared national identity. [1]

The term is derived from English academic, Michael Billig's 1995 book of the same name and is intended to be understood critically. Billig's book has been described as 'the fourth most cited work on nationalism ever published'. [2] Billig devised the concept of 'banal nationalism' to highlight the routine and often unnoticed ways that established nation-states are reproduced from day to day. [3] The concept has been highly influential, particularly within the discipline of political geography, with continued academic interest since the book's publication in 1995. [4] Today the term is used primarily in academic discussion of identity formation, geopolitics, and the nature of nationalism in contemporary political culture. [5]

Institutions like Yosemite National Park could be interpreted as an effective form of banal nationalism: an originally natural geographic phenomenon is actively delimited, institutionalized and styled as an item of national importance by political act. This way, the abstract idea of America becomes tangible in ordinary life. Valley View Yosemite August 2013 002.jpg
Institutions like Yosemite National Park could be interpreted as an effective form of banal nationalism: an originally natural geographic phenomenon is actively delimited, institutionalized and styled as an item of national importance by political act. This way, the abstract idea of America becomes tangible in ordinary life.
The Pledge of Allegiance in the United States is one of the most overt forms of banal nationalism - most are less obvious. Dorothea Lange pledge of allegiance.jpg
The Pledge of Allegiance in the United States is one of the most overt forms of banal nationalism – most are less obvious.

Examples of banal nationalism include the use of flags in everyday contexts, sporting events, national songs, symbols on money, [6] popular expressions and turns of phrase, patriotic clubs, the use of implied togetherness in the national press, for example, the use of terms such as the prime minister, the weather, our team, and divisions into "domestic" and "international" news. Many of these symbols are most effective because of their constant repetition, and almost subliminal nature. Banal nationalism is often created via state institutions such as schools. [7]

It can contribute to bottom-up processes of nation-building. [8]

Michael Billig's primary purpose in coining the term was to clearly differentiate everyday, regular nationalism from extremist variants. He argued that the academic and journalistic focus on extreme nationalists, independence movements, and xenophobes in the 1980s and 1990s obscured the strength of contemporary nationalism, by implying that nationalism was a fringe ideology rather than a dominant theme in contemporary political culture. [4] [5] Billig noted the almost unspoken assumption of the utmost importance of the nation in political discourse of the time, for example in the calls to protect Kuwait during the Gulf War, or to take action in the U.S. after the September 11 attacks. He argues that the "hidden" nature of modern nationalism makes it a very powerful ideology, partially because it remains largely unexamined and unchallenged, yet remains the basis for powerful political movements, and most political violence in the world today. Banal nationalism should not be thought of as a weak form of nationalism, but the basis for "dangerous nationalisms". [9] However, in earlier times, calls to the "nation" were not as important, when religion, monarchy or family might have been invoked more successfully to mobilize action. He also uses the concept to dispute post-modernist claims that the nation-state is in decline, noting particularly the continued hegemonic power of American nationalism.

Further reading

Related Research Articles

Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, it tends to promote the interests of a particular nation, especially with the aim of gaining and maintaining the nation's sovereignty (self-governance) over its perceived homeland to create a nation-state. It holds that each nation should govern itself, free from outside interference (self-determination), that a nation is a natural and ideal basis for a polity, and that the nation is the only rightful source of political power. It further aims to build and maintain a single national identity, based on a combination of shared social characteristics such as culture, ethnicity, geographic location, language, politics, religion, traditions and belief in a shared singular history, and to promote national unity or solidarity. Nationalism, therefore, seeks to preserve and foster a nation's traditional culture. There are various definitions of a "nation", which leads to different types of nationalism. The two main divergent forms identified by scholars are ethnic nationalism and civic nationalism.

A nation is a large type of social organization where a collective identity has emerged from a combination of shared features across a given population, such as language, history, ethnicity, culture, territory or society. Some nations are constructed around ethnicity while others are bound by political constitutions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Patriotism</span> Love and attachment to ones country

Patriotism is the feeling of love, devotion, and a sense of attachment to one's country. This attachment can be a combination of different feelings for things such as the language of one's homeland, and its ethnic, cultural, political, or historical aspects. It may encompass a set of concepts closely related to nationalism, mostly civic nationalism and sometimes cultural nationalism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Romantic nationalism</span> Type of nationalism

Romantic nationalism is the form of nationalism in which the state claims its political legitimacy as an organic consequence of the unity of those it governs. This includes such factors as language, race, ethnicity, culture, religion, and customs of the nation in its primal sense of those who were born within its culture. It can be applied to ethnic nationalism as well as civic nationalism. Romantic nationalism arose in reaction to dynastic or imperial hegemony, which assessed the legitimacy of the state from the top down, emanating from a monarch or other authority, which justified its existence. Such downward-radiating power might ultimately derive from a god or gods (see the divine right of kings and the Mandate of Heaven).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National myth</span> Inspiring narrative about a nations past

A national myth is an inspiring narrative or anecdote about a nation's past. Such myths often serve as important national symbols and affirm a set of national values. A national myth may sometimes take the form of a national epic or be incorporated into a civil religion. A group of related myths about a nation may be referred to as the national mythos, from μῦθος, the original Greek word for "myth".

Hindutva is a political ideology encompassing the cultural justification of Hindu nationalism and the belief in establishing Hindu hegemony within India. The political ideology was formulated by Vinayak Damodar Savarkar in 1922. It is used by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP), the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and other organisations, collectively called the Sangh Parivar.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ethnic religion</span> Religion associated with a particular ethnic group

In religious studies, an ethnic religion is a religion or belief associated with a particular ethnic group. Ethnic religions are often distinguished from universal religions, such as Christianity or Islam, in which gaining converts is a primary objective and, therefore, are not limited in ethnic, national or racial scope.

Cosmopolitanism is the idea that all human beings are members of a single community. Its adherents are known as cosmopolitan or cosmopolite. Cosmopolitanism is both prescriptive and aspirational, believing humans can and should be "world citizens" in a "universal community". The idea encompasses different dimensions and avenues of community, such as promoting universal moral standards, establishing global political structures, or developing a platform for mutual cultural expression and tolerance.

Political geography is concerned with the study of both the spatially uneven outcomes of political processes and the ways in which political processes are themselves affected by spatial structures. Conventionally, for the purposes of analysis, political geography adopts a three-scale structure with the study of the state at the centre, the study of international relations above it, and the study of localities below it. The primary concerns of the subdiscipline can be summarized as the inter-relationships between people, state, and territory.

Pan-nationalism is a specific term, used mainly in social sciences as a designation for those forms of nationalism that aim to transcend traditional boundaries of basic or historical national identities in order to create a "higher" pan-national (all-inclusive) identity, based on various common denominators. Pan-nationalism can occur as a specific variant of all common forms of nationalism. In relation to classical state nationalism, pan-nationalism manifests itself through various political movements that advocate the formation of "higher" (pan-national) forms of political identity, based on a regional or continental grouping of national states. In terms of ethnic nationalism, pan-nationalism can also manifest itself through specific ethnic movements that advocate setting up "higher" (pan-national) forms of common identity that are based on ethnic grouping. Other forms of nationalism also have their pan-national variants.

Michael Billig is a British academic. He is Emeritus Professor of Social Sciences at Loughborough University, working principally in contemporary social psychology although much of his work crosses disciplinary boundaries in the social sciences.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Syrian nationalism</span> Nationalism of the region of Syria

Syrian nationalism, also known as Pan-Syrian nationalism, refers to the nationalism of the region of Syria, as a cultural or political entity known as "Greater Syria".

Among scholars of nationalism, a number of types of nationalism have been presented. Nationalism may manifest itself as part of official state ideology or as a popular non-state movement and may be expressed along civic, ethnic, cultural, language, religious or ideological lines. These self-definitions of the nation are used to classify types of nationalism, but such categories are not mutually exclusive and many nationalist movements combine some or all of these elements to varying degrees. Nationalist movements can also be classified by other criteria, such as scale and location.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bangladeshi nationalism</span> Ideology of Bangladeshis

Bangladeshi nationalism is an ideology that promotes the territorial identity of Bangladeshis. The ideology emerged during the late 1970s, popularized by former Bangladesh President Ziaur Rahman. The history of nationalism in the country dates back to the colonial era, when the region started witnessing anti-colonial movements against the British Empire. Soon, a sense of religious nationalism began to emerge which was later revolutionised into ethnolinguistic nationalism. Following independence of Bangladesh in 1971, leaders like Ziaur Rahman began to promote Bangladeshi nationalism which was based on territorial attachment of Bangladeshis. Politically, Bangladeshi nationalism is mainly professed by the center-right and rightist political parties in Bangladesh, led by Bangladesh Nationalist Party.

John Hutchinson is a British academic. He is a reader in nationalism at the London School of Economics (LSE), in the Department of Government.

Ethnosymbolism is a school of thought in the study of nationalism that stresses the importance of symbols, myths, values and traditions in the formation and persistence of the modern nation state.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cultural globalization</span> Transmission of ideas, meanings and values around the world

Cultural globalization refers to the transmission of ideas, meanings and values around the world in such a way as to extend and intensify social relations. This process is marked by the common consumption of cultures that have been diffused by the Internet, popular culture media, and international travel. This has added to processes of commodity exchange and colonization which have a longer history of carrying cultural meaning around the globe. The circulation of cultures enables individuals to partake in extended social relations that cross national and regional borders. The creation and expansion of such social relations is not merely observed on a material level. Cultural globalization involves the formation of shared norms and knowledge with which people associate their individual and collective cultural identities. It brings increasing interconnectedness among different populations and cultures. The idea of cultural globalization emerged in the late 1980s, but was diffused widely by Western academics throughout the 1990s and early 2000s. For some researchers, the idea of cultural globalization is reaction to the claims made by critics of cultural imperialism in the 1970s and 1980s.

Internationalism is a political principle that advocates greater political or economic cooperation among states and nations. It is associated with other political movements and ideologies, but can also reflect a doctrine, belief system, or movement in itself.

Ethnic nationalism, also known as ethnonationalism, is a form of nationalism wherein the nation and nationality are defined in terms of ethnicity, with emphasis on an ethnocentric approach to various political issues related to national affirmation of a particular ethnic group.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arab identity</span> Ethnic identity

Arab identity is the objective or subjective state of perceiving oneself as an Arab and as relating to being Arab. Like other cultural identities, it relies on a common culture, a traditional lineage, the common land in history, shared experiences including underlying conflicts and confrontations. These commonalities are regional and in historical contexts, tribal. Arab identity is defined independently of religious identity, and pre-dates the spread of Islam and before spread of Judaism and Christianity, with historically attested Arab Muslim tribes and Arab Christian tribes and Arab Jewish tribes. Arabs are a diverse group in terms of religious affiliations and practices. Most Arabs are Muslim, with a minority adhering to other faiths, largely Christianity, but also Druze and Baháʼí.

References

  1. Michael Billig, Banal Nationalism. 1995, London: Sage, p. 6.
  2. Michael Skey and Marco Antonsich, Everyday Nationhood: theorising culture, identity and belonging after Banal Nationalism. 2017, London: Palgrave Macmillan, p. 1.
  3. Michael Billig, Banal Nationalism. 1995, London: Sage, p. 6.
  4. 1 2 Koch, Nathalie; Anssi Paasi (September 2016). "Banal Nationalism 20 years on: Re-thinking, re-formulating and re-contextualizing the concept". Political Geography. 54: 1–6. doi:10.1016/j.polgeo.2016.06.002.
  5. 1 2 Sophie Duchesne, 'Who's afraid of Banal Nationalism', Nations and Nationalism, 2018, 24, pp. 841-856.
  6. Penrose, Jan (November 2011). "Designing the nation. Banknotes, banal nationalism and alternative conceptions of the state". Political Geography. 30 (8): 429–440. doi:10.1016/j.polgeo.2011.09.007.
  7. Piller, Ingrid (12 May 2017). "The banal nationalism of intercultural communication advice". Archived from the original on 12 May 2017.
  8. Mylonas, Harris; Tudor, Maya (11 May 2021). "Nationalism: What We Know and What We Still Need to Know". Annual Review of Political Science. 24 (1): 109–132. doi: 10.1146/annurev-polisci-041719-101841 . Retrieved 27 September 2021.
  9. Wade, Lisa (4 July 2014). "Banal Nationalism". Sociological Images . Retrieved 16 October 2019.