Dimensions Of National Identity Research Articles

An attempt of classification of theoretical approaches to national identity

It is compulsory that complex social concepts should be defined in different ways and approached from the perspective of different science disciplines. Therefore, it is difficult to precisely define them without overlapping of meaning with other similar concepts. This paper has made an attempt towards theoretical classification of the national identity and differentiate that concept in comparison to the other related concepts (race, ethnic group, nation, national background, authoritativeness, patriarchy). Theoretical assessments are classified into two groups: ones that are dealing with nature of national identity and others that are stating one or more dimensions of national identity, crucial for its determination. On the contrary to the primordialistic concept of national identity, describing it as a fundamental, deeply rooted human feature, there are many numerous contemporary theoretical approaches (instrumentalist, constructivist, functionalistic), emphasizing changeable, fluid, instrumentalist function of the national identity. Fundamental determinants of national identity are: language, culture (music, traditional myths), state symbols (territory, citizenship), self-categorization, religion, set of personal characteristics and values.

Modern Roots. Studies of National Identity

Contents: Introduction: The study of national identity, Natividad GutiA(c)rrez. Dimensions of National Identity: Interpretations of national identity, Anthony D. Smith Theories of national personality revisited: Anglo-American models and French conceptions, Philippe Claret National identity and modernity, Montserrat Guibernau. Symbolizing the Nation: Forging the authentic nation: Alpine landscape and Swiss national identity, Oliver Zimmer Folk culture and the construction of European national identities between the eighteenth and twentieth centuries, Anne-Marie Thiese and Catherine Bertho-Lavenir The shaping of a nation: Catalan history and historicity in Post-Franco Spain, Yolaine Cultiaux. Teaching National Identity: Recreating the French nation: the teaching of history at the A%ocole Libre des Sciences Politiques at the end of the nineteenth century, Corinne Delmas National identity construction and the teachera (TM)s unions of the Germanys and Japan, 1945a 1955, Julian Dierkes Hindu nationalism and the social welfare strategy, Christophe Jaffrelot. Disrupted National Identities: Nationalism and the politics of national identities in Latin America: gender, power and racism, Sallie Westwood The difficult stabilization of Turkish national identity, GA(c)rard Groc Between mimesis and rebellion: the vicissitudes of Romanian nationalism, Catherine Durandin. Conclusion: Culture and national identity, Alain Dieckhoff.

Impications of National Identity for Marketing Strategy

The discipline of marketing has paid scant attention to the fundamental features of national identity and their implications for marketing strategy. National identity may be viewed as a multidimensional construct. This paper reviews the major dimensions of national identity, with an investigation of the cultural elements of national identity which have hitherto been widely ignored in the marketing literature. The central issues and implications of national identity for marketing strategy are examined, and the concept of branding or rebranding of the nation is discussed. Specific focus is placed upon Scotland and the implications of national identity for the marketing and branding of Scottish goods and services.

Individual and Societal Bases of National Identity. A Comparative Multi-Level Analysis

In a previous study (Jones and Smith, 1999) we established that much the same core pattern of national identity characterizes many developed countries. Using the national identity module from the 1995 International Social Survey Programme, we identified two dimensions of national identity: an ascriptive dimension resembling the concept of ethnic identity described in the historical and theoretical literature, and a voluntarist dimension closer to the notion of civic identity. Some writers view these dimensions in terms of a historical sequence but we find that both constructs coexist in the minds of individual respondents in the nations we examine (we exclude Bulgaria and the Philippines from the present but not the earlier analysis). The dataset used for the multilevel analyses reported here consists of 28 589 respondents in the remaining 21 countries included in the national identity database for the 1995 round of surveys. The macrosociological literature on national identity does not offer well-defined predictions about what precise patterns of national identification we might expect to find among the masses of the developed countries. There are, however, recurring themes from which one can construct plausible hypotheses about how countries might differ according to their level of development, broadly conceived. Thus, we hypothesize that forces such as post-industrialism and globalization tend to favour the more open voluntaristic form of national identity over the more restrictive ascribed form. We develop different multi-level models in order to evaluate specific hypotheses pertaining to such issues, by simultaneously relating individual and societal characteristics to the relative strength of individual commitment to these different types of national identity.

Diversity and Commonality in National Identities: An Exploratory Analysis of Cross-National Patterns

Issues of boundary maintenance are implicit in all studies of national identity. By definition, national communities consist of those who are included but surrounded (literally or metaphorically) by those who are excluded. Most extant research on national identity explores criteria for national membership largely in terms of official or public definitions described, for example, in citizenship and immigration laws or in texts of popular culture. We know much less about how ordinary people in various nations reason about these issues. An analysis of cross-national (N= 23) survey data from the 1995 International Social Science Program reveals a core pattern in most of the countries studied. Respondents were asked how important various criteria were in being ‘truly’ a member of a particular nation. Exploratory factor analysis shows that these items cluster in terms of two underlying dimensions. Ascriptive/objectivist criteria relating to birth, religion and residence can be distinguished from civic/voluntarist criteria relating to subjective feelings of membership and belief in core institutions. In most nations the ascriptive/objectivist dimension of national identity was more prominent than the subjective civic/voluntarist dimension. Taken overall, these findings suggest an unanticipated homogeneity in the ways that citizens around the world think about national identity. To the extent that these dimensions also mirror the well-known distinction between ethnic and civic national identification, they suggest that the former remains robust despite globalization, mass migration and cultural pluralism. Throughout the world official definitions of national identification have tended to shift towards a civic model. Yet citizens remain remarkably traditional in outlook. A task for future research is to investigate the macrosociological forces that produce both commonality and difference in the core patterns we have identified.

The cultural foundations of Ukrainian national identity

This article examines the importance of intra- and inter-state cultural comparisons in the construction of national identity in a multi-ethnic country. A theoretical discussion first explores two dimensions of the underdeveloped concept of national identity: content and strength. It is argued that perceptions of cultural similarity among a country's ethnic and ethno-regional groups, and perceptions of both cultural similarity and difference between these groups and the populations of other countries, shape and promote these dimensions of national identity. The argument is evaluated using the case of Ukraine. Qualitative analysis of writings by Ukrainians and quantitative analysis of an elite survey distributed in the cities of Lviv and Donetsk examine how cultural comparisons between Ukraine's main ethno-regions and perceptions of the differences and similarities among European, Russian and Ukrainian culture condition national unity in Ukraine.

National identity as one of the aspects of personal identity

In the whole complex of personal identities a new sphere has been singled out recently i. e. – national identity. This research has been devoted to collect as many empirical facts on this issue as possible and to try, on the grounds of Marcia's conception, to determine the statuses of identity and the factors influencing it and to pick out the main dimensions of national identity. A research has been made to compare the peculiarities of young people whose parents are of the same nationality and of those from mixed families. Achieved results show the importance of national identity to a person and the way it combines with other aspects of identity. Different statuses of national identity which are determined by such environmental factors as homogeneous or heterogeneous family in national aspect, the living place, the language etc. were revealed together with the combinations of these factors.