Strategies of Constructing Social Identities in conflict‐Ridden Areas: The Case of Young Jews, Arabs and Palestinians

By Dahlia Moore and Salem Aweiss

Volume 7, Issue 1, pages 2-26

Abstract

Combining several social‐psychological and sociological perspectives to examine the relative importance of diverse social identity components in Israeli and Palestinian societies, this study uses identity as a key concept in understanding how diverse social orders can simultaneously exist within a single societal entity. Analysing a sample of over 3,800 Jewish, Arab, and Palestinian high school students we find that family identity is the most salient among Jews and Arabs today, while the civic (Palestinian) identity is the most salient among Palestinians. Moreover, each social identity entails a different attitudinal and demographic profile. The findings seem to indicate that the value systems (according to which the collective is more important than the individual) that prevailed among Jews in Israel in the state’s formative years are declining, while such value systems are currently prevalent in Palestinian society. Implications for the conflict between the two societies are also discussed.

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Bound from Head to Toe: The Sari as an Expression of Gendered National Identity

By Shauna Wilton

Volume 12, Issue 1, pages 190-205

Abstract

This article explores the clothing choices of Indian women and the relationship between clothing and the construction of the nation in contemporary India. Building on the existing literature on nationalism, combined with feminist and cultural studies approaches, the article uses interviews with young Indian women as an entry point into exploring the symbolic role of women and the sari within Indian nationalism. In doing so, this article questions to what extent choosing what to wear is an example of choosing the nation, whether it is a free and conscious choice, and whether it is appropriate to see these choices as constitutive of national identity or merely ornamental. In conclusion, I argue that something as ordinary as choosing what to wear has the potential to undermine dominant discourses surrounding the nation. While choosing to wear the sari does not always reflect a conscious choosing of the Indian nation, the clothing choices of Indian women do allow them to navigate complex social and cultural identities in their everyday lives and reflect the importance of the ‘everyday’ within theorising and explaining the construction and maintenance of nations.

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CosmoPoles: A Mixed‐methods Study on the European Identity of Higher‐educated Polish Youth

By Jeroen Moes

Volume 9, Issue 3, pages 429-451

Abstract

Through the combination of quantitative and qualitative analyses, this study investigates the extent to which a European identity has emerged across Europe and what it means to ‘be European’ for higher‐educated Polish youth. The results of a quantitative comparative analysis (multilevel regression analysis on Eurobarometer survey data) are complemented by the results from a qualitative inquiry that was conducted within the framework of the same research project. It is argued that national and European political identifications are not mutually exclusive but rather seem to complement each other (both quantitatively and qualitatively). It is further argued that mixed‐methods research designs offer a promising approach to the study of collective identities and Europeanisation.

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Queering the Politics of Global Sexual Rights?

By Leticia Sabsay

Volume 13, Issue 1, pages 80-90

Abstract

To be ‘politically queer’ at the beginning of the 1990s indicated opposition to the policing of identity and heteronormativity, and adherence to a politics that transcended liberal‐legal claims. More recently, queer activism and scholarship have largely focused on contesting the emergence of homonormative forms of nationalism and institutionalized rights‐based LGBT politics. However, to define a political intervention as queer on the condition that it explicitly adheres to one or other specific political project is possibly to overstate the case. The ‘queer signifier’ has travelled far beyond its local origins and, as a consequence, has shifted meanings in significant ways. In this essay, I consider current tensions concerning what it means to be politically queer, focusing on queer responses to the formation of sexual rights‐bearing subjects, and critically analyse the notion of sexual rights on which contemporary international mainstream sexual politics is based. Through this analysis I aim to draw attention to the entanglement of the normalization of sexual identities at a national level with current sexual neocolonial projects. Since the signifier ‘queer’ has spread in many different directions, I argue that it is precisely cultural translation that makes key alliances against both universalist and nationalist queer positions possible.

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**This week we are featuring two articles that have recently received high Almetric scores.**

Banal Nationalism, Football, and Discourse Community in Africa

By Bea Vidacs

Volume 11, Issue 1, pages 25-41

Abstract

The article argues that despite the continuing relevance of ethnicity, the idea of the nation has taken root among Africans. This is due to a combination of factors, including the universal ideology of the nation‐state, the impact of the existence of such national borders on the imagination, and the influence of national symbols and icons, which naturalise the idea of the nation. Applying Michael Billig’s notion of banal nationalism to Cameroon, the article focuses on linguistic practices as well as on popular appropriations of national symbols as contributing factors to the creation and maintenance of national consciousness. The analysis of a call‐in radio program broadcast on Cameroonian national radio during the 1994 FIFA World Cup illustrates that football created a discourse community that reinforced the idea of the nation both explicitly and implicitly. By participating in the debate, journalists and listeners alike – regardless of the tenor of their remarks – reinforced and further contributed to imagining the Cameroonian nation.

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Does Electoral Proximity Enhance National Pride? Evidence from Monthly Surveys in a Multi‐ethnic Society – Latvia

By Ryo Nakai

Volume 18, Issue 3, pages 198-220

Abstract

This research focuses on how elections affect national pride, one of the core components of an individual’s sense of nationalism. Recent studies have found that elections can be crucial moments in enhancing nationalistic sentiment. I conducted an in‐depth survey of research polling in Latvia, where the ethnic majority–minority structure is clear and issues of nationalism have long been salient. It therefore offers an interesting case for observing whose national pride can be changed over the short term during the electoral season. Survey research conducted repeatedly both before and after the general election produced the following findings: 1) an electoral enhancement effect on national pride exists, regardless of ethnic majority or minority status; 2) the pride of those who support the party of the incumbent prime minister is enhanced as elections get closer, but that of radical right party supporters is not. These results shed light on yet another aspect of the connection between elections and nationalism.

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