Debating National Identity Through the China Model: An Ideological Spectrum Analysis

The article examines the stages of transformation of national identity in the official political discourse of modern Russia. In the theoretical and methodological part, the study is based on the work of well-known Russian and foreign political scientists, sociologists and psychologists. The empirical basis of the research is the normative legal acts and texts of official public speeches of political figures. The authors note that modern Russian national-state identity is a macropolitical phenomenon understood as an interdisciplinary and intersection of political science phenomenon, englobing cognitive science, linguistics and history elements. Special attention in the study is paid to the tools of political discourse, the analysis of the use of which allows us to determine the stages of constructing the national and state identity of modern Russia. To review approaches to the essence of national and state identity, general scientific research methods are used: collection, analysis, classification and synthesis of information. The constructivism paradigm, taken as the methodological basis of the study, made it possible to identify the features characteristic of each stage of the construction of national and state identity and to identify the leading tools of political discourse, forms of interpretation and translation of the concept under study. As a result of the study, four stages of the transformation of national and state identity were identified, each of which corresponds to a leading narrative. The first stage (1991-1999) is distinguished from the subsequent ones by a pronounced "critical narrative", where the main line of building a dialogue with the "people" is based on examples of the "unsuccessful experience of the Soviet past". The leading narrative of the second stage (2000-2011) is the narrative of "total continuity", where the "millennial" experience of Russia and its "civilizational mission" are the basis for the translation of the national idea. The third stage (2012-2019) seems to be the central idea of the "state-forming Russian people". The consolidation of Russia's "positive goals" and its role as a "savior" takes place at the fourth stage (2020-2024), where the focus is on the approval and broadcasting of already declared spiritual and moral values. In conclusion, it is noted that a new round in the construction of national and state identity both in political discourse and in the political and managerial dimension will take place in 2025, when an updated version of the "Strategy of the State National Policy of the Russian Federation" will be adopted.

This thesis is concerned with the ways in which language policy, planning and practices shape national and social identity. The research was conducted in the young nation of Timor-Leste, which achieved independence in 2002 after 24 years of illegal occupation by Indonesia. The Constitution of the new republic declared the former colonial language, Portuguese, and the indigenous lingua franca, Tetum, to be co-official languages. English and Indonesian were allocated the special status of working languages. The Constitution also allocated the 15 endogenous languages the status of national languages, to be protected and developed by the State. The thesis is structured around three classic language problems for developing nations, (i) dealing with the legacies of colonialism, (ii) reconstructing national identity, and (iii) managing the language ecology. The thesis is theoretically grounded in the ecology of language paradigm, which is founded on the assumption that languages exist and work in ecological relation to each other. Using multiple methods within an ethnographic design, the thesis provides a qualitative, holistic description and analysis of language policy, planning and practices in their cultural context. Taking a dualistic approach, the thesis studies language policy discourses at the macro (state) level and the micro (community) level. A sociolinguistic profile identifies the features of the language ecology; an historical study highlights the symbolic violence to the East Timorese habitus as a result of four distinct periods of language policy, planning and practice, the consequence of which was the fragmentation and hybridisation of identities. A qualitative analysis of contemporary language policy development discusses the issues and implications of the current trajectory for language policy-making, planning and use. The evolutionary study design culminates in a grounded theory analysis of data collected from 78 participants in semi-structured interviews and focus groups, in an effort to understand the relationships between language dispositions, language policy, and national and social identity. The narratives in the participant discourses were compared to those of official language policy. A key finding is that, while older participants in the research were willing to accept Portuguese as the language of national and international identity, younger participants tended to acknowledge a role for Portuguese as the primary source language for modernising and enriching Tetum and as a language of international communication. The participants were divided in their attitudes towards Indonesian. Older participants saw it as the language of the invader while many younger ones saw it as just another way to communicate. Whilst interest in English was high, it had little capital for the participants as a language of identity. In contrast, across much of the sample, there was deep and enduring loyalty to Tetum as the symbol of national unity and identity. However, negative, disparaging attitudes towards Tetum and doubts about its readiness to function as an official language were also elicited from certain participants. The thesis concludes that this has negative implications for reconstructing social and national identity and for achieving true parity between Portuguese and Tetum in the ecology. The data indicate that linguistic identities in Timor-Leste are multiple, situated and contested, particularly amongst the younger participants. However, the data also show that, in spite of these contestations, there is higher congruity between official and popular language policy discourses than might be expected, given the negative reporting East Timorese language policy has received in the Australian media. The thesis concludes that a more socially accommodating conception of identity would imply stronger efforts to promote respect for Tetum as the language of national unity and identity. This involves promoting it as a language fit for schooling and use in high-status domains. A socially accommodating approach to language planning would also imply a substantive commitment to indigenising literacy and promoting the national languages as symbols of local identity. The thesis presents the case for a consistently maintenance-oriented promotion policy approach that moves beyond mere tolerance and symbolic recognition of the endogenous languages. A language-as-resource ideology and a bottom-up approach to language planning which grants agency and voice to traditionally less powerful social actors and communities are advocated as essential to policy success. This is the first doctoral study of language policy, planning and practices in Timor-Leste. The methodological significance of the thesis lies in its respecification and integration of analytical tools from critical discourse analysis and ethnographic approaches in order to understand the effects of language shift and reform on language communities and their speakers. The theoretical significance of the thesis lies principally in its contribution to a theory of ecological language policy and planning in producing a set of principles for sustainable ecological language management.

This article explores tacit, habitual notions of nationhood within political and popular discourses that underlie the ways that ethnic minorities in Lithuania perceive themselves. This is achieved by examining official and semi-public discourses surrounding the use and status of foreign national flags in Lithuania. The main findings of the article are twofold. First, doxastic perceptions of national identity that emerged in the official discourses during the 1990s rather than those since the beginning of 2000s appeared to be present within semi-public discourses in 2015. Second, official discourses appear either less aware of, or avoid, issues of ethnic tension in Lithuania – questions that, on the contrary, were very important to focus group discussants.

This paper examines the importance of the culture of remembrance for the military profession in Serbia, with a particular focus on the Battle of Košare as a lieu de mémoire. It explores the relationship between collective memory, historical narratives, and the identity foundations of the military profession within contemporary Serbian society, especially in light of ongoing political and security transformations. Drawing on the theoretical framework of Pierre Nora and existing interpretations of the interplay between history and memory, the paper analyzes memory as an active resource for preserving national identity. The research argues that collective memory is not merely a tool for safeguarding historical heritage but also a vital element in shaping moral and professional continuity. The methodological approach is grounded in qualitative analysis of relevant sources, including academic literature and historical documents that serve as testimonies of the past. The findings suggest that the process of European integration may indirectly affect the visibility of certain historical narratives, with the role of individual heroes, such as those who fought in the Battle of Košare, remaining underrepresented in official narratives and public discourse. The paper concludes that institutionalizing the memory of the Battle of Košare is essential not only for reinforcing national identity but also for upholding the professional and ethical values that underpin military service. By embedding this memory in official discourse and incorporating it into educational and institutional initiatives, the military reinforces its continuity and affirms its role as a custodian of values such as duty, sacrifice, and loyalty-qualities that are crucial for sustaining discipline and professional integrity. Institutionalizing this memory also helps ensure that the significance of the Battle of Košare is properly recognized and passed on to future generations. This, in turn, shapes both public understanding and the international perception of the Serbian military.

Political economy approaches examine the power relations that are embedded in the production, distribution, and exchange of resources. They are distinguished from economics by a deeper concern for history, the social totality, moral philosophy, and praxis. Numerous schools of thought mark these approaches including early conservative, communitarian, and Marxian perspectives. Today, neoconservative, institutional, neo-Marxian, feminist, environmental, and social movement-based approaches offer a wide variety of political economies. Communication scholars have drawn on political economy approaches to carry out research on media technologies, including broadcasting, telecommunications, and computer communication. In doing so they have developed distinctive geographic perspectives covering North America, parts of Asia, Europe, and the less developed world. Political economy approaches are built on specific philosophical assumptions including a range of epistemologies that, on one end of a continuum, accept the reality of concepts and observations and, at the other, claim that concepts and observations are the social constructions of language. Political economy approaches also range from perspectives that emphasize social change, social processes, and social relations to those that focus on social structures and institutions. Political economists tend to concentrate on three processes that make up the main starting points for political economy research on media technologies. Commodification is the process of transforming things valued for their use into marketable products that are valued for what they can bring in exchange. This can be seen, for example, in the process of turning a story that friends tell one another into a film, a book, or even a virtual experience, to be sold in the marketplace. Spatialization is the process of overcoming the constraints of geographical space with media and technologies. For example, social media surmounts distance by bringing images of world events to every part of the globe, and companies use media technologies, now typically composed of cloud computing, big data analytics, the Internet of Things, and telecommunications networks, to build global supply chains. Finally, structuration is the process of creating social relations, mainly those organized around social class, gender, and race. With respect to social class, political economy approaches describe how access to the mass media and new communication technologies is influenced by inequalities in income and wealth, which enable some to afford access and others to be left out. Political economy approaches are evolving in response to challenges from cultural studies approaches. Political economies of media technologies are now placing greater emphasis on international communication, on communication history, on standpoints of resistance, on new media technologies, and on new media activism.

Abstract: Dual citizenship has been a highly contested issue in Armenia since independence. Contesting perceptions of Armenian national identity have largely contributed diverging policies on dual citizenship. On the one hand, pragmatists have emphasized state security concerns, endorsed a civic type of national identity and rejected dual citizenship. Nationalists, on the other, have emphasized pan-national/ethnic security concerns, endorsed an ethnic vision of national identity and advocated dual citizenship based on ethnic criteria. Following a liberal nationalist approach, this article argues that national identity is not just a function of a pre-existing ethnicity or religion. It is primarily a political phenomenon and requires shared political experiences within a bounded political community. Therefore, granting citizenship diaspora Armenians with different political experiences and worldviews most probably will restrict the capacity for self-determination among local citizens and will aggravate the existing democratic deficit and endemic lack of trust in government. Key words: Armenia, democracy, dual citizenship, national identity, nationalists, pragmatists ********** Constitutional amendments a pivotal political issue for Armenia. (1) Among several changes that the amended constitution does not contain is a clause banning dual citizenship, specified in Article 14 of the constitution. (2) The issue of dual citizenship in Armenia has been at the heart of political debate since independence. As the National Assembly's (NA) Deputy Speaker, Ara Sahakyan, announced in 1994, debates around dual citizenship and citizens' rights and obligations divided the NA into two extreme poles. (3) This article discusses two interrelated themes. First, it will present official and opposition attitudes on dual citizenship in Armenia from 1994 2005. In this section it will be argued that the dual citizenship debate in Armenia is essentially a result of differing perceptions of national identity. While the pre-1998 official discourse on national identity clearly leaned toward a civic type, the post-998 official discourse is marked by a tendency toward an ethnic definition of national identity. A great deal of the literature on citizenship indicates that the historical link between citizenship and nationality is disappearing as a result of processes such as globalization and the proliferation of human rights. The importance and impact of those processes is undeniable. Yet the Armenian case indicates that the current debates on citizenship also debates about nationhood. As William Rogers Brubaker argues, debates on citizenship are debates about what it means, and ought mean, be a member of a nation-state in today's increasingly international world. (4) Moreover, while adopting international norms and the standardized language of universal rights, states in a position mold and adjust the discourse domestic priorities and security concerns. Second, based on the theory of liberal nationalism, an argument will be made against dual citizenship in Armenia. It will be argued that concessions and tolerance possible only when there is trust within ethical communities, that is, states whose citizens have special moral obligations each other, but not outsiders. (5) The sense of shared national identity (based on shared political experiences), and belonging a bounded political community, helps sustain the trust and solidarity needed for citizens to accept the results of democratic decisions and the obligations of liberal justice. (6) Some Theoretical Considerations on Civic and Ethnic Typology of National Identity Since the mid-twentieth-century, scholars have categorized nationalism based on a Western/civic/liberal and Eastern/ethnic/organic definition. According this definition, civic national identity, which emerged in the late sixteenth-century in Western Europe, and later in North America, is based on concepts of individual liberty, choice, and rational cosmopolitanism. …

The concept of national identity is typically reinforced through the referencing of an Other, and “our” difference from “them”. Ashcroft et al. (1998: 169) write that “The existence of others is crucial in defining what is ‘normal’ and in locating one’s own place in the world”, and Michel Foucault (1990) argued that Othering often underlies power in order to achieve a certain agenda through knowledge and discourse. While colonialism is one such example of the power of Othering, post-colonial processes such as nationalist discourse often avoid emphasising internal plurality. This is especially the case where the post-colonial state has an interest in building or reuniting one nation, often under one ruling power and, to use the words of Ashcroft et al. (ibid), aiming to “eradicate historical difference”. Anderson (2006: 5), for example, speaks of the “formal universality of nationality as a socio-cultural concept”, underlining that nationalism is inclusive and unifying. This means that internally there can be what Verdery calls a “totalizing process … that entails a relentless press toward homogeneity,” that at the same time requires an Other for the definition of the Self (1996: 231). This chapter will examine narratives and discourse on national identity in current Moroccan textbooks while also taking the concept of Othering into account. In the process, it will look at official discourse especially on Imazighen (plural form of Tamazight Amazigh “free man”, Amazighs), or Berbers and other groups in Morocco such as the Jewish population, and query whether these groups are depicted as subaltern in official discourse.

By trying to bridge approaches based on the analysis of objective national interests with those focusing on national identities and discourses, this study attempts to offer a new angle for analysing Sino-Russian relations from 2012 to 2018. Developing a conceptual framework based on the National Role Theory (NRT), this thesis analyses official discourses developed by Russia and China between 2012 and 2018 in order to (1) identify assumed roles and corresponding mutual expectations displayed by Russia and China in official discourses (2) identify gaps between roles and mutual expectations (3) address the mechanisms used by Russia and China to bridge the gaps between the assumed roles and mutual expectations. The results of the study suggest that Russia and China adjust their role-taking and form mutual expectations in close relation to a given context. Thus, this study distinguishes between global, regional, and bilateral levels of interaction, introducing the analysis of cooperation in Central Asia as a case to access the regional level. The convergence of roles at the global level is an essential factor in the formation of a Sino-Russian approach to the debate over the global governance system. At the same time, this study identifies some gaps between assumed roles and expectations at the regional and at the bilateral levels. The gaps at the regional level are attributed to attempts by Russia and China to locate roles of civilisational powers and suppliers of shared norms to promote regional integration. At the bilateral level, the study identifies gaps between the roles assumed in the official discourses and expectations exhibited by bureaucracies, businesses, and the general public. One of the most effective strategies used by Russia and China to bridge these gaps is to promote intensive communication about perceptions and interests which allows them to internalise roles assumed by the other and construct shared meanings. Moreover, strategies at the bilateral level to bridge gaps include the promotion of mutual learning and the accumulation of knowledge about each other.

Antepasados. Los afroporteños en la cultura nacional [Ancestors: Afroporteños in National Culture] was one of the most comprehensive museum exhibits to address the cultural heritage of Afro-descendants from Buenos Aires – known as afroporteños. It was open to the public from April to June 2016 at the Museo del Libro y de la Lengua [Museum of Books and Language]. The primary purpose of Antepasados was to recapture afroporteños’ cultural heritage and fill what scholars, curators, and the government saw as a “regrettable absence” in narratives about national identity. This study examines how Antepasados (2016) articulated the logic of whiteness in Argentina and the politics of race representation in museums and public history while recognising the erasure of Afro-descendants in official discourse. This exhibit acknowledges the contribution of afroporteños to national culture and identity, and shows how Argentine society is dealing with its racial reckoning, albeit with certain contradictions. Finally, this study inscribes the case of afroporteños into broader discussions about race in Latin America by reframing national identity and cultural heritage discourses in more inclusive terms within a country where an emphasis on whiteness has been predominant.

The theoretical framework of this study rests on the assumption that historical narrative can ‘establish the identity of its authors and listeners’ (Rüsen 1993: 5); it is grounded on the new status of history as a ‘resource for solving the problems of the national emancipation and identity, and for legitimizing the political élites’‘power struggles’ in the modern public space (Grekova et al. 1997: 15). I use theoretical concepts in my analysis of the ways through which historical narratives (forming the structure of the educational content of the obligatory history textbooks) construct the national community, articulating its relation with ‘the surrounding world’. This analysis examines the process of re‐writing the history textbooks1 (as a legitimizing resource of the changing political élites during the periods 1917–1946; 1946–1955; 1963–1984‐1989; 1990–1993‐1996) in order to discern the value‐normative scale of the historical narrative's chain of events, which builds and carries the national identity. Our study deals with the obligatory history textbook in its capacity of official pedagogic discourse that is charged also with the expectations to provide historical resources for solving the crisis of the national identity, caused by the changed direction of Bulgarian historical time as a result of the flow of world history (Bundzhulov et al 1995).

Feminist scholars have provided important analyses of the gendered and racialised discourses used to justify the Global War on Terror. They show how post-9/11 policies were made possible through particular binary constructions of race, gender, and national identity in official discourse. Turning to popular culture, this article uses a Queer feminist poststructuralist approach to look at the ways that Ms. Marvel comics destabilise and contest those racialised and gendered discourses. Specifically, it explores how Ms. Marvel provides a reading of race, gender, and national identity in post-9/11 USA that challenges gendered-racialised stereotypes. Providing a Queer reading of Ms. Marvel that undermines the coherence of Self/Other binaries, the article concludes that to write, draw, and circulate comics and the politics they depict is a way of intervening in international relations that imbues comics with the power to engage in dialogue with and (re)shape systems of racialised-gendered domination and counter discriminatory legislation. Dibujando miedo a la diferencia: raza, género e identidad nacional en Ms. Marvel Comics

This paper examines US, Japanese and European political economy approaches to China and their effect on US-Japan and US-European Union (EU) relationships. Great powers with a greater security concern in dealing with another major country care more about power while those with less concern are preoccupied with calculations of wealth. China's rise and its actions have posed a far greater security challenge to the United States and Japan than to the EU and are driving the two countries closer together. The political economy game involving China reveals a dominant welfare motive among the advanced market economies. The ambition to transform China politically has diminished. China's integration into the global market makes a relative gains approach difficult to implement. Globalization simply limits the ability of a state to follow a politics-in-command approach in the absence of actual military conflict, which explains why the political economy approaches of the United States, Europe and Japan are not that different. China's own grand strategy to reach out to the world and outflank the US-Japan alliance has also contributed to a divergent European policy toward China, although there are severe limitations to Beijing's ability to drive a wedge between the United States and Europe.

This article explores nation-building processes in the Transnistrian imagined community. While some scholars describe Transnistria’s nation-building strategy as a civic, multicultural project, the analysis of recent demographic and educational data corroborated with the close examination of local media content and official discourses—all point to the emergence of a distinct political culture marked by the increasing use of the Russian language in the public sphere, and the politicization of the Moldovan identity. Discourses about ethnic and national identity in the region have evolved as the Transnistrian elites reimagine the political community as part of theRusskii Mir.These circumstances suggest that, in the long run, the breakaway region might function as the southeastern frontline of Russian irredentism with the elites of the Pridnestrovska͡ia Moldavska͡ia Respublika continuing to call on the Russian Federation to annex the parastate instead of seeking a peaceful reintegration into Moldova.

What underlies the controversy of the cultural identity of Serbia which has been in transition for over two centuries? I have looked for answers in the unstable, hybrid and dynamic concept of the Balkan identity. The Balkans, as a specific ethnic and culturological mix, as a place where noble barbarogeniuses meet with barbarianism, the European Orient, the melting pot of traditions and global trends, is a specific platform from which we have observed construction of presentation and mixing of our attitude to the national identity with the attitude to the culture in general. Analogy between the 19th century process of modernization and Serbia today is obvious, both in the steps for building cultural and national identity and in the latest consequences of the poor social transformations. The transition from a traditional to a modern society, modeled after West European paragons, has always neglected at least one of the key integrating factors. Hence the uncoordinated social and cultural policies and poorly directed social emancipation in general have led to ignorance of or misinterpretation of own culture, tradition and models, causing long term incompetence for preservation of cultural (as well as political) independence in these regions. This text poses some questions related to the deficit of modernity and the cultural imperialism that has remained in the Balkans as a consequence of colonial dominance. The marriage of the politics and the esthetics is analyzed on the example of visual representation of national identity, through portraits of the ruler - Knez Miloš Obrenović - a clear indication of the attempt at developing a cultural strategy and defining a unique national cultural model. Equating the notion of national identity with political mentality has shown that passive traditional mentality (static and non-communicative) is an obstacle to forming a modern cultural identity which is innovative and capable of forming its own perception of politics. The political transformation of the system, which legged behind overall social transformation, has brought about an unsustainable cultural policy (which should be a foundation for the modernization of state) as well as maintenance of the status quo attitude to the dominant centre. This is why mere erasure of the colonist identity models and acceptance of new models were not sufficient to establish own national and cultural identity. The never-ending process of modernization has caused permanent indefiniteness of the modern cultural policy, since in the unstable period of transition we still choose between traditionalism and global culture, all the while additionally emphasizing the differences and controversies without creating a field of free cultural fluctuation. Returning to the Balkans as a cultural paradigm of Serbia, the cultural policy of today should communicate with the visible wealth of diversity without contradicting either tradition or transition, in order to avoid the inferiority in recognition of or indifference for production, presentation and preservation of its own cultural riches.

An important layer of this research is dedicated to critical studies, which are directed at the strategies of creating a peculiarly Indian literary theory and practice. We have a desire to separate the indigenous tradition from the broad American, in particular, Anglo-American and recognize Indian writing as a component of the multicultural paradigm. Currently, there is a noticeable confrontation between two camps of literary critics: one of them is oriented to European literary theories and believes that they should form the basis of literary interpretations of indigenous writers’ works; another wing is determined by the need to clarify the peculiarities of the literary paradigm of “Indian realism” in the context of a globalized society taking into account new literary models of the perception of ethnic minorities. The need to write the article is caused by the lack of a comprehensive understanding of the problem in Ukrainian literary studies and the growing objective interest in the works of Native American writers, in particular Susan Power. The article proposes a conceptual and methodological determination of the study of a literary text written in the style of Indian realism, which makes it possible to reveal the raised scientific problem at many levels. The article examines how the drama of loss, search and a new acquisition of national identity by the Sioux people was artistically and aesthetically reflected in the text of Susan Power`s novel “The Grass Dancer”. The presentation and consideration of the problem of national and cultural identity provides an opportunity to see the artistic diversity in the understanding of the personal destiny of a person and the people in general, literary ideas about the Sioux people beliefs peculiarities, their aesthetic component and place in the national cultural canon. The main thing is to avoid the trap of a politicized and ideologized theory of multiculturalism, in which modern critics increasingly see an opportunity to interpret the texts of indigenous writers, which is actually the ideology of colonial domination hidden behind political correctness. The main purpose of this article is to outline a coherent theoretical and empirical model of multi-level functioning of Dakota national identity concept in the novel “The Grass Dancer” by Susan Power. Also the aim is to substantiate the leading concept of Sioux national identity literary manifestations interpretation as a unique code, epistemological, socio-cultural and artistic-aesthetic factor that plays a significant role in the modern worldview formation process and myth-making of Dakota society representatives. The following article involves historical-cultural and structural approaches, which correspond to the purpose and tasks of the research; methods of cultural-semantic analysis and phenomenological methods were also used. The persistent deconstruction of the Eurocentric canon of world literature, not only at the level of academic discussions, but also in the system of university teaching of world literature, demands new texts such as “The Grass Dancer”. The reformatting of canons is, of course, a permanent process, but the globalization of the literary canon today acquires a qualitatively new scale and breadth proposed by Susan Power. Multiculturalism with its influence on cultural dynamics and the idea of national and cultural identity can’t be considered the driving cultural stimulus of changes in all its ambiguity. To an even greater extent, transculturalism, proposed by Power, aimed at defining common interests and common values across cultural and national borders for non-native readers. That is her main contribution to the construction of a more globalized literary canon. Susan Power as a Native American writer has repeatedly addressed the specified range of the Indigenous problems, which constantly tested the agreement prevalent in the nonnative science with the most urgent problems of Native literary studies.