Conceptual Framework

How are people's national identities connected to places? 

Module Authors:

Margaret Keane (St. Mary's University College, N.I.)
Phil Klein (University of Northern Colorado, U.S.A.)
Antoni Luna GarcÍa (Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Spain)

 

National Identity Module Learning Outcomes

Content

Students will be able to think critically and analytically about:

• Theoretical approaches to the concepts of nation and national identity,
• Why these concepts represent socially constructed phenomena,
• Why specific places come to symbolize national identity in varied contexts,
• How icons of national identity are socially reproduced by political actors,
• Why and how landscapes become inscribed and imbued with identities, and
• Where spaces are contested sites of competing visions of national identity

Perspectives

Students will thoughtfully:

• Reflect how their own conceptions of place identity have been shaped,
• Explore how national identities are being affected by processes of change, and
• Consider other people's perspectives about visions of national identity.

Skills (using optional collaborative activities)

Students will gain practice and improve their facility with:

• Working cooperatively in groups and collaboratively using the internet,
• Negotiating in productive discussions about the issue of national identity, and
• Communicating effectively with peers from different regions or countries.

 

Introduction

 

This module examines the issue of national identity from a geographic perspective. Doing so means exploring intersections between culture and politics. At this intersection, we find that places are more than where people live, or their lists of environmental or cultural traits. Societies ascribe political significance to places, and nations are built in order that people bond to their places. That this relationship can be called having a "sense of place" illustrates how places become imbued with feelings of belonging and identity. And because places acquire particular meanings, often to different groups, how they are used may become contested.

This Conceptual Framework presents how geographers theorize the nature of this intersection, where spaces involving identity and power meet. It is complex terrain, but the point that will be emphasized is that this space – or more appropriately, this array of possible spaces crossing many scales - is socially constructed. Consider that if something is taken as constructed, rather than as a given, then it can be re-constructed as well. As you work with this module, you will reflect upon how your own sense of "national" identity has been constructed, and continues to be constructed, and critically examine how issues of place identity pervade contemporary political issues at every scale.

What does it mean to say that national identity is "socially constructed"? It acknowledges that this relationship between people and place is defined by social structures (including, for example, laws, media, religions, schools) and the norms of society produced by them. It implies that how identity is produced and how power is distributed varies according to the geographical and historical contingencies that characterize particular places. Behr (2006: 475) explained: "… how people make sense of their society, interpret their place in it – develop their national identity, if you will – emerges from the way that individuals connect to the wider social and cultural contexts in which they find themselves."

DEPTH BOX: Political Implications of Socially Constructed Space (Click here for more information)

This is a compelling time to study national identity and its ideological counterpart, nationalism. During the last two decades, these issues have been prominent in news events across the globe. After the break-up of the Soviet Union, the political maps of Eastern Europe and Central Asia were reshaped. Since 1990, new states were also created by the secessions of Eritrea and Timor-Leste from Ethiopia and Indonesia, respectively. Some nationalist issues were dealt with through peaceful political means, as in Czechoslovakia. Others were violent: Separatist movements in ethnically diverse states in Europe exploded into conflict in places including the former Yugoslavia, Northern Ireland, and Georgia. In Iraq, long-suppressed ethno-national rivalries were revived in the power vacuum that occurred with the ouster of the dictator, Saddam Hussein, after the US-led-coalition invasion in 2003. In Sri Lanka, 2009 marked the end of a long and destructive ethnic civil war, in that case with separatist Tamils admitting defeat to the politically dominant Sinhalese majority. And in numerous economically developed countries, such as the US, UK, France, and Australia, rising international labour migration has led to controversies over perceived threats to traditional visions of national identity.

 

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