Category Archives: Weekly Features

Featured weekly article: The Rainbow Is Burning: Analysing Public Contemporary Art as Site of the Polish Symbolic Conflict Over LGBT Rights, the Nation and Europe

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The Rainbow Is Burning: Analysing Public Contemporary Art as Site of the Polish Symbolic Conflict Over LGBT Rights, the Nation and Europe

By Roch Dunin‐Wąsowicz

Volume 16, Issue 1, pages 20-39

Abstract

This paper examines the meanings and the social function of the Rainbow artwork mounted on one of Warsaw’s central squares. It analyses how its public presence became site of the Polish symbolic conflict over LGBT rights, nationhood, and Europe. On the one hand, the Rainbow illuminates existing social cleavages – the way in which Polish national subjectivity is currently reconstructed in relation to undergoing social and civilisational changes after EU accession. On the other hand, the Rainbow not only represents existing differences in society, but itself catalyses polarisation of public attitudes. It does so mainly because of its perceived LGBT symbolism. It is shown that while the symbolic conflict may be intensifying and political fringe polarisation is indeed occurring, popular sentiments are actually liberalising, public visibility of the LGBT minority is historically unparalleled, and a European civilisational aspiration is overwhelmingly embraced in Polish society. This paper shows that though homophobic right‐wing radicalisation does occur, it is mainly a result of political ideology supply, and that overwhelming popular support for the artwork and its ‘gay’ meaning reflects actual social liberalisation and a pluralisation of the public sphere in contemporary Poland.

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Featured weekly article: The Politicisation of Culture and the Contestation of Iranian National Identity in Khatami’s Iran

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The Politicisation of Culture and the Contestation of Iranian National Identity in Khatami’s Iran

By Shabnam Holliday

Volume 7, Issue 1, pages 27-45

Abstract

Islam and nationalism are often linked in Iranian political discourses. While looking at Islam is crucial to an understanding of Iranian nationalism, it is essential to highlight that it is not the only basis of nationalism. The political discourses during Seyyed Mohammad Khatami’s presidency (1997–2005) illustrate the complexity of nationalism in Iran. This paper examines discourses of national identity that are contested by addressing the role of culture. The aim of this paper is to illustrate that the basis of the contestation is a perceived dichotomy between two cultures: Iraniyyat ‐ being Iranian in terms of Iran’s pre‐Islamic heritage and exclusion of the Islamic heritage — and Islamiyyat— being Islamic in terms of Iran’s Islamic heritage and exclusion of pre‐Islamic heritage.

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Featured weekly article: What’s so Sectarian about Sectarian Politics? Identity Politics and Authoritarianism in a New Middle East

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What’s so Sectarian about Sectarian Politics? Identity Politics and Authoritarianism in a New Middle East

By Morten Valbjørn

Volume 19, Issue 1, pages 127-149

Abstract

Shia/Sunni sectarianism figures prominently in post‐Arab uprising claims that the Middle East is witnessing a darker kind of authoritarianism drawing on exclusionary and xenophobic forms of identity politics. This article explores whether sectarianism per se is associated with a distinct form of identity politics or if authoritarian techniques involving the use of the ‘sectarian card’ should be subsumed under a broader category of authoritarian identity politics involving the inclusion or exclusion of social groups based on identity and implemented with varying degrees of repression. The article shows how Brubaker’s analytical distinction between a ‘diacritical’ and ‘normative ordering power’ understanding of religious identities gives rise to different expectations in regard to whether sectarianism leads to different and more violent forms of repression than other forms of identity politics. Against this background, the article compares authoritarian identity politics in Bahrain, Kuwait, Jordan, and Egypt, which all differ from each other both in terms of the importance of a Shia/Sunni distinction compared to other identity cleavages, and also as regards the intensity and level of the regime’s response to the Arab uprisings. From this comparison five general lessons about sectarianism and authoritarian identity politics can be drawn.

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Featured weekly article: Constructing Chinese Identity in Post‐colonial Hong Kong: A Discursive Analysis of the Official Nation‐Building Project

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Constructing Chinese Identity in Post‐colonial Hong Kong: A Discursive Analysis of the Official Nation‐Building Project

By Thomas Kwan-choi Tse

Volume 14, Issue 1, pages 188-206

Abstract

After the handover of sovereignty from the United Kingdom to China in 1997, the post‐colonial government in Hong Kong initiated a nation‐building project aimed at boosting nationalism and patriotism. Drawing on documentary analysis, this article analyses how the dominant bloc subtly manipulates a Chinese identity rooted in local traditions through its national education policy, and how it seeks to foster hegemony via several discursive strategies including normalization, naturalization, homogenization, utilitarianization, glorification, moralization, and eclecticism. This article also draws attention to the alternative discourses by the civil society in opposition to the hegemony project.

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Featured weekly article: The Rise of Han‐Centrism and What It Means for International Politics

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The Rise of Han‐Centrism and What It Means for International Politics

By John M. Friend and Bradley A. Thayer

Volume 17, Issue 1, pages 91-114

Abstract

This article addresses the rise of Han‐centrism, a form of hyper‐nationalism, in contemporary China. As Chinese nationalism has become more ethnocentric since the 1990s, the cultural chauvinism of Han‐centrism has become increasingly more influential in the debate over national identity. Within this narrative, Han culture is considered to be the authentic character of the nation; to deviate from the Han identity will only tarnish Chinese exceptionalism and impede China’s rise. While Chinese nationalism consists of many competing discourses, we argue that Han‐centrism has a significant influence within both policy‐making circles and the public sphere in China, and, as a result, has important consequences for the future of international politics.

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