2 think local, act global 2015 ii
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THINK LOCAL, ACT GLOBAL
UNDERSTANDING GLOBAL AND LOCAL CULTURAL IDENTITIES
Today
Progressing towards the assessment
Introducing cultural identity
Imagining national communities
Threatening the nation
Our Progress
Last week we discussed the idea that our local circumstances are increasingly influenced by global social structures
Today we consider whether the nation, as a particularly strong form of local identification, is threatened by changes in global social structures
Our Task
To critically investigate the impact of the idea of nationhood upon our identities,
cultural practices and British society
Is nationhood part of your cultural identity?
First assessment
To what extent has your cultural identity been affected by the processes of globalisation? (1000 words, due Feb 23rd)
The aim is for you to consider how your cultural identity has been influenced by changes on a global scale
You are able to write in the ‘1st person’ e.g. “As I am an immigrant from New Zealand, I feel…” but must use at least three academic sources
Personal and cultural identities
Our identities are developed in social circumstances: our sense of self is socially constructed
Cultural identity is the ‘we’, personal identity is the ‘I’, or unique characteristics of personality (and the self is the autobiographical ‘me’ that holds it all together) ‘We are British’: Cultural identity
‘I am polite’: Personal identity
Because of my British upbringing, I’m quite polite: the self
Cultural identity tends to shift, whilst personal identity is more robust
Cultural identity
Culture: The ideas, practices, norms and social behaviour of a particular people
But we don’t just passively accept everything about our culture(s)
Instead we go through a process of identification with the ‘symbolic resources’ of a culture to include ourselves within a ‘cultural story’
Cultural identities
An identity is an individual’s identification with something external to them, normally an abstract or imagined idea (I am this)
Cultural identities are the point where individuals meet the social: the process of identification
Cultural identities are always plural and constructed through the cultural resources available – a cultural identity is one’s identification within a set of cultural resources
On a personal level these cultural identities are not only abstract: we form emotional attachments to them
“In common sense language, identification is constructed on the back of a recognition of some common origin or shared characteristics with another person or group, or with an ideal, and with the natural closure of solidarity and allegiance established on this
foundation” (Stuart Hall, 1996, p.14)
Mediating global culture
In a pre-global world, cultural resources would primarily have been sourced from our local environments
The advent of a global media systems means that these referents are not necessarily local
Global media sources allow us to become ‘spectators of the world’, consuming cultures from our living rooms
Fragmented identities
In a global ‘post-modern world’ identities are becoming increasingly fragmented as we come into contact with a wider range of cultural resources.
So, what are our most powerful sources of cultural identity?
What elements make up your cultural identity?
Progressing towards the assessment
Today: The nation
Next Week: Global media
Then: Cultural imperialism
Defining the nation
‘Nations’ are a people with a shared identity, usually based on common geography
Nations differ from ethnic groups because they seek political autonomy as well as cultural unity
Nations produce social solidarity through belonging and identification
What is your nationality?
Is your nationality
important to you?
"...national identities are not things we are born with, but are formed and transformed within and in relation to representation. We only know what it is to be English because of the way 'Englishness' has come to be represented, as a set of meanings, by English national culture. It follows that a nation is not only a political entity [the state] but something which produces meaning - a system of cultural representation. People are not only legal citizens of a nation; they participate in the idea of the nation as represented in national culture. A nation is a symbolic community and it is this which accounts for its 'power to generate a sense of identity and allegiance” (Hall, 1992,p.292)
An imagined community
National identities are not naturally produced, but are socially constructed – nations are built, not born
Nations are imagined because we will never meet all the members of the nation, but members still have an ‘image of their communion’ (Anderson, 1991, p.6)
Benedict Anderson (1991) argued that the nation was an ‘imagined community’ that is inherently limited and sovereign
Limited sovereign communities
Nations are imagined to be limited because they establish ideological and physical boundaries from others
Nations are imagined to be sovereign because they have rule over themselves (or aspire to)
Nations are imagined as a community because of the inherent comradeship between members
This imaginary is based upon an identification with symbols and ideas that allow for the construction of a common identity and common bond with other people
"National cultures construct identities by producing meanings about 'the nation' with which we can identify; these are contained in the stories which are told about it, memories which connect it to the present with its past and images which are constructed of it" (Hall, 1992,
p.293).”
What shared meanings define your sense
nationhood?
Constructing imaginations
Whilst our national imaginations are based on shared symbols and ideas, they cannot be fixed
National identity is always in flux – What defines ‘us’ from ‘them’
As a consequence, national identity is strongly influenced by global structural shifts
Challenging the nation
Whilst nationhood provides a powerful sense of identity for some, and a common bond between many, it has come under threat from a number of sources:
The emergence of global political and economic institutions The spread of global cultures The presence of multiple national identities within a nation-
state A return to localist politics
These factors challenge both the way we think of ourselves and the way our lives are organised through the nation-state
Nations and states
Nations might be imagined, but they are also built
Modern nations are generally coupled with states (the nation-state)
Nations are cultural constructions, states are political institutions
The ideal of a nation-state is that a common people living in proximity to each other should have political autonomy
National solidarity
Those who live close to each other are expected to share common values
Without any cultural commonality, social relations are often defined by conflict over the right way to do things, or who benefits from existing arrangements
Whilst common points of identification can operate on a micro level, they are encouraged to extend to coincide with legal geographical boundaries
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Non-UK Population in London by Nationality
The aliens amongst ‘us’
Immigrants from distant localities can bring the global into the local
Immigrants come to embody the threat of globalisation and different values and lifestyle: our imagined communities are no longer limited
Alternative national imaginations and identifications start to emerge
As a consequence, many people attempt to re-establish the limits on who belongs
The ‘Cricket Test’
“A large proportion of
Britain's Asian population fail to pass the cricket test. Which side do they cheer for? It's an interesting test. Are you still harking back to where you came from or
where you are?” Conservative UK Politician Norman Tebbit (1990)
Is it important for immigrants to identify
with the nation of their residence?
Nationalism
Nationalism is the desire of a people to assert their autonomy, identity and unity through a patriotic identification with the nation over other forms of identity, particularly divisive ones ‘We are all English’
Nationalism is a powerful method for attempting closure (‘suture’) of identity, primarily by excluding those we do not ‘fit’ with a version of the nation imagination
National instinct
Primordialism suggests that nations are rooted in biological similarities
Primordial nationalism is based on shared geography, languages and heritage
Often constructed around founding myths and traditions that have bound together the ‘people’
Our shared heritage
The primordial perspective is conservative in the sense that it identifies an ‘essence’ to identity that naturally excludes those who do not fit – often violently
In large scale societies, this homogeneity is difficult to achieve and the politics of conservative nationalism are generally retrospective
Politicians often seek to return to this time through devices like citizenship tests
The diversity of national identities within a nation-state is troubling for many, as are more ‘global’ threats to the autonomy of the nation-state
Purifying identity
These movements reject the influence of ‘non-representative’ institutions in the name of an imagined peoples “We [UKIP] believe in the right of the people of the UK
to govern ourselves, rather than be governed by unelected bureaucrats in Brussels (and, increasingly, in London and even your local town hall)”
“The EDL believes that English Culture has the right to exist and prosper in England”
As national/cultural identities have become more
complex, there is a greater desire to simplify them by removing ‘intruders’
Do immigrants in London make you feel
less British?
The challenge of local culture
The increased influence of global factors on local lives has generated strong local resistance and moves to restore local sovereignty
A number of ‘nations’ such as Scotland and Catalonia, are seeking to become independent
Nationalist movements within nations, such as the British National Party (BNP), the English Defence League (EDL) and the UK Independence Party (UKIP), have rallied against global and regional influences, particularly migration and distant governing institutions
Did you want Scotland to stay in the UK?
Take-away points
Our points of identification and attachment are often very local – for many, the nation is a core source of cultural identity
Nations are imagined and built rather than ‘born’
Nations and the nation-state in particular have come under threat from global cultural, economic and political culture forces
This has led to a rise in localist politics and defence of the nation
Next Week
WEEK 3 MEDIATING GLOBALISATION: COMMUNICATING HEGEMONY OR TECHNOLOGIES OF RESISTANCE
READINGS:
Core reading: Chapter One: Introduction in Hafez, K. (2007) The Myth of Media Globalisation. Cambridge: Polity (online book, available through the library website)
See also: Introduction, McLuhan, M. (1964) Understanding Media. Abingdon: Routledge.
Rantanen, Terhi., (2005) "Theorizing Media and Globalization" from Rantanen, Terhi., The media and Globalization. pp.1-18, London: Sage