Most historians today agree that nations are constructed and their borders largely arbitrary. So, why should we study nationalism by limiting ourselves to the boundaries of existing nation-states... Show moreMost historians today agree that nations are constructed and their borders largely arbitrary. So, why should we study nationalism by limiting ourselves to the boundaries of existing nation-states or nationalist movements? In fact, since the 1990s historians have been analysing the interaction between local, regional and national identities, mostly by concentrating on the territorial identification processes in a specific city or region. Other scholars examined trans-border influences on the nation-building process by focusing on the role of emigrants, borders, transfers or the impact of foreign scholars and tourists. As a consequence, nationalism is now being studied at various geographical levels besides the traditional emphasis on the nation itself: the local, the regional, the transnational and the global (which will be the topic of chapter twelve). This chapter aims to provide an overview of the impact of the ‘spatial turn’ on the history of nationalism. Show less
On China's web, networked actors ranging from state agencies to private Internet users engage in highly active online discourse. Yet as diverse as this discourse may be, political content remains... Show moreOn China's web, networked actors ranging from state agencies to private Internet users engage in highly active online discourse. Yet as diverse as this discourse may be, political content remains highly regulated, particularly on issues that affect the legitimacy of the ruling party. A prominent issue in this regard has been modern Chinese history, particularly the “national humiliation” that Japan inflicted on China's populace during events like the 1937 Nanjing Massacre. This article asks how the discourse on this particular event is structured on China's web, and what such practices of digital “remembering” can tell us about nationalism in the information age. Combining content analysis and digital tools, the article shows how the mass-media model that the Chinese authorities and various commercial actors apply to the web ultimately reproduces the very logic of “imagined communities” that makes reconciliation of historical disputes in East Asia so protracted. Show less
Nationalism studies does not seem to be a very innovative field of research. The path-breaking views of Anderson, Gellner and Hobsbawm – all published in 1983 – still form the starting point for... Show moreNationalism studies does not seem to be a very innovative field of research. The path-breaking views of Anderson, Gellner and Hobsbawm – all published in 1983 – still form the starting point for almost all existing investigations. Moreover, most recent studies focus on one national case, which implicitly results in a vast collection of ‘unique’ trajectories. However, over the last few years a number of highly original studies on the origins of nationalism, nation-state formation, banal nationalism, methodological nationalism and nation-building in a global perspective seem to announce a new dawn. Some of these refreshing interpretations – which will be discussed in this article – clearly demonstrate that historiographical nationalism still has a preponderant role in history writing. In the concluding paragraphs I will emphasize the need to overcome not only methodological nationalism, but also the terminological and normative nationalism that still dominates our discipline. Show less
La nacionalización del hogar en España es un tema todavía sin estudiar. Recientemente ha aumentado el interés por el estudio del nacionalismo banal y el impacto del nacionalismo en la vida... Show moreLa nacionalización del hogar en España es un tema todavía sin estudiar. Recientemente ha aumentado el interés por el estudio del nacionalismo banal y el impacto del nacionalismo en la vida cotidiana, sobre todo durante el franquismo y la democracia. Sin embargo, sus origines no están nada claras. Analizando la arquitectura doméstica, la decoración interior, e incluso la jardinería se pone de manifiesto que el espacio doméstico se nacionalizó durante las tres primeras décadas del siglo XX. La arquitectura regionalista se puso de moda para las villas y casas de campo y los muebles se inspiraron cada vez más en la artesanía tradicional. Lo mismo ocurrió con prácticas domésticas como la cocina, el consumo, y la limpieza. De este modo se “inventaron” la cocina española y los platos regionales. A partir de fuentes heterogéneas como la prensa, manuales, y discursos, esbozamos la nacionalización del hogar en España en su fase inicial, contribuyendo de esta manera a la historia del nacionalismo, los estudios de género, la historia de la arquitectura, y los estudios de la alimentación, que por centrarse tanto en los procesos de modernización ignoraron casi por completo esta nacionalización de la esfera privada.The nationalization of the domestic sphere in Spain is a topic that has been largely ignored. Recently, the interest in the study of banal nationalism and the impact of nationalism on everyday life has been on the rise, particularly for the Francoist and democratic era; however, its origins are not clear at all. An examination of developments in domestic architecture, interior decoration, and even gardening shows that the domestic sphere was nationalized during the first three decades of the twentieth century. Regionalist architecture was in vogue for villas and country-houses and furniture was increasingly modeled after local artisanal traditions. Domestic practices such as cooking, consuming, and cleaning were also increasingly connected with supposedly “national” traditions. During this period Spanish cuisine and many of its regional dishes were “invented”. The first phase of the nationalization of the domestic sphere in Spain is analyzed using a wide array of primary sources (press, manuals, speeches, etc.), thus contributing to the history of nationalism, gender studies, the history of architecture, and food studies, which by focusing on modernization processes largely disregarded this profound nationalization of the private sphere. Show less
This article examines parliaments as transnational institutions. It uses Finland as an example to analyze how nineteenth- and early twentieth-century European representative assemblies were part... Show moreThis article examines parliaments as transnational institutions. It uses Finland as an example to analyze how nineteenth- and early twentieth-century European representative assemblies were part of a joint publicity. This publicity, facilitated by the press, was actively used in developing and shaping national practices, especially in countries without an established parliamentary tradition. The transnational parliamentary publicity changed how parliaments functioned and deliberated. It was utilized in assemblies’ procedural formation and revision, democratization, and parliamentarization. The mediated models and examples were used selectively and innovatively to interpret, contextualize, and frame domestic political questions. The article examines the transfer of parliamentary obstruction from European parliaments to the four-estate Diet and the unicameral parliament of the Finnish Grand Duchy of the Russian Empire. Obstruction became part of the Finnish political repertoire soon after the Irish obstruction appeared in the British House of Commons in the late 1870s. Although no systematic obstruction campaigns were organized in early Finnish parliamentary life, the concept of obstruction was a rhetorical and ideological tool of the Finnish nationalists and socialists. The article positions Finnish discussions within wider European debates on parliaments, democratization, the rise of mass parties, and the problematic relationship between representative and deliberative aspects of parliamentary politics. Show less
This article examines the transformation of estate assemblies into parliaments by analysing the case of the late 19th-century Diet of Finland. Furthermore, it positions the procedural discussions... Show moreThis article examines the transformation of estate assemblies into parliaments by analysing the case of the late 19th-century Diet of Finland. Furthermore, it positions the procedural discussions of the peripheral Finnish Diet within a wider European debate on parliaments and parliamentarism. While parliamentary government and the dissolution of Europe’s last four-estate representation were largely out of the question in the Finnish Grand Duchy of the Russian Empire, revisions and innovations on Diet rules and practices formed an essential means to introduce elements of modern parliaments within the obsolete estate system. By analysing Finnish Diet and press discussions, the article re-examines the significance and reception of the Swedish Riksdag institution of plenum plenorum, the joint discussion of all four estates, in Finland. The article highlights a struggle between two concepts of deliberation. A liberal group organized around the newspaper Helsingfors Dagblad used plenum plenorum to challenge their Fennoman opponents’ consensual idea of deliberation and the Diet’s deliberative model, which was based on committee negotiation. The Dagbladists advocated plenum plenorum in order to transform the estates into a single debating parliamentary assembly. Show less
The Frankfurt Parliament (1848–49) was subsequently dismissively referred to as the “Professors’ Parliament” due to its heavy representation of scholars and the academic style of its lengthy... Show moreThe Frankfurt Parliament (1848–49) was subsequently dismissively referred to as the “Professors’ Parliament” due to its heavy representation of scholars and the academic style of its lengthy discussions. Professors have played a prominent role in the deliberations and development of other European assemblies, too. This article examines the role of professors in the formation of Finnish parliamentary life. It moreover underlines the close relationship between the academia and national politics in late nineteenth-century Finland, starting from the European revolutions of 1848. The article highlights how politically active professors, together with the newspaper press, were crucial in transferring European ideas to Finnish debates. Professors promoted ideological conceptions of parliamentary politics, which were inspired by their scholarly interests and formulated by applying European discussions and concepts selectively to the Finnish context. The article focuses on a debate between Finnish professors and their competing conceptions of parliament. The struggle between the Hegelian philosopher J. V. Snellman and the liberal Professor of Law Leo Mechelin reflects a wider European debate on the role and purposes of parliaments as national representative and deliberative institutions. The article evaluates the role of Snellman’s and Mechelin’s conceptions of parliament in Finnish parliamentary culture in the longer term. Show less
This paper addresses the role of archaeologists in informing the public about a fundamental component of contemporary Romanian identity: the Dacian heritage. I start by exploring how the Dacians... Show moreThis paper addresses the role of archaeologists in informing the public about a fundamental component of contemporary Romanian identity: the Dacian heritage. I start by exploring how the Dacians and Romanians came to be connected, a process that resulted from a combination of nationalistic zeal on behalf of archaeologists and the nationalist propaganda of the Ceau¸sescu regime during the 1970s and 1980s. I then move to the present-day situation, where I argue that archaeologists have reduced themselves to having a minor role in the public sphere, while discussions about the Dacians are dominated by two main players: pseudoarchaeologists and re-enactors. This state of affairs delegitimizes Romanian archaeology and places self-declared specialists and enthusiasts in the position of experts. Some of the Dacian narratives produced in this environment are infused with strong nationalist messages and have the potential to fuel extreme right-wing and even xenophobic movements. Consequently, in the final part of the paper, I recommend that Romanian archaeologists should challenge the representations and interpretations of pseudoarchaeologists and re-enactors. Moreover, academics should make it a priority to re-engage with the public and disseminate their work to a broad audience in a convincing manner. Show less
The paper approaches the topic of nationalism in relation to the Late Iron Age archaeology of Romania. It is argued that nationalist agendas have played a significant role in the development of... Show moreThe paper approaches the topic of nationalism in relation to the Late Iron Age archaeology of Romania. It is argued that nationalist agendas have played a significant role in the development of Late Iron Age scholarly work since the beginnings of the discipline in the 19th century and particularly after the start of the 20th century. This phenomenon took extreme forms during Nicolae Ceauşescu’ national-communist regime and continues today, albeit, with reduced intensity. For illustrative purposes, four main ideas are discussed in connection to Late Iron Age Romanian archaeology: the assumed unity of the Late Iron Age inhabitants, referred to as Dacians; the Dacians as ancestors of modern Romanians; the issue of ethnic labelling in Late Iron Age archaeology; and finally the implicit superiority of the Dacians. Although the relationship between nationalism and archaeology should not be condemned intrinsically, in the case of Romania such a link is problematic because of three factors: the belief in the scientific character of the discipline; the lack of theoretical discussions on ethnicity; and the archaeologists’ denial of political responsibility for their research. This strategy has led most Late Iron Age scholars to retreat to the “ivory tower” of positivist research, allowing for a large number of non-academic publications about the Dacians to flood the internet and bookshops. Show less
Don Quixote became a Spanish national symbol thanks to the authors the Generation of 1898, such as Miguel de Unamuno, Azorín and Francisco Navarra Ledesma, who published their new interpretations... Show moreDon Quixote became a Spanish national symbol thanks to the authors the Generation of 1898, such as Miguel de Unamuno, Azorín and Francisco Navarra Ledesma, who published their new interpretations during the 1905 commemoration of the publication of Cervantes', The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha. Already a few months after suffering a humiliating defeat in the Spanish-American War of 1898, the famous novelist Benito Pérez Galdós argued that having lost the last vestiges of its once enormous colonial empire, Spain's greatest remaining source of pride was its magnificent cultural past, especially the great literary masterpiece of Miguel de Cervantes. Thus, in 1905 the publication of the novel was celebrated in a magnificent nation-wide commemoration, in which Don Quixote was praised as one of the highlights of Spain's literary heritage. However, it were the authors of the Generation of 1898 who converted the novel's hero into a national myth. In new masterpieces, such as Azorín's La ruta de Don Quijote and Unamuno's The Life of Don Quixote and Sancho, they presented a new vitalist interpretation of Cervantes' novel, while making the fictional character of Don Quixote into a symbol of the entire nation. This way Don Quixote became larger than Cervantes himself, and this view was in a way immortalized in stone in the monument that was erected in the following decades at the Plaza de España of Madrid. Show less
Building on the foundational work of the Rhodes-Livingstone Institute, the essays in this collective volume offer a picture of the late colonial period in Zambia. The volume is based on untapped... Show moreBuilding on the foundational work of the Rhodes-Livingstone Institute, the essays in this collective volume offer a picture of the late colonial period in Zambia. The volume is based on untapped archival material and sources that have emerged in recent years and throws new light on some of the historical trajectories that the teleological gaze of nationalist scholars tended to ignore. An introduction by the editors is followed by a background article on Northern Rhodesia's post-war period (1945-1953) by Andrew D. Roberts. The next four chapters deal with the polyphony of African nationalism in the country: Giacomo Macola on the formation of ZANC/UNIP, Walima T. Kalusa on traditional rulers and nationalists in the 1950s, Marja Hinfelaar on the realization of a Catholic social doctrine in the context of a rise in nationalism, and Kenneth P. Vickery on labour, politics and Dixon Konkola. The third part of the book deals with the unsettled world of settlers: Ian Phimister on white miners on the Copperbelt, Joanna Lewis on David Livingstone and the 1955 centenary commemorations, Jan-Bart Gewald on fears and fantasies in the 1950s, Friday Mufuzi on Indian political activism, and Joan M. Haig on Hindu life in 1950s Northern Rhodesia. The final two chapters deal with participating observers: Christopher M. Annear on Ian Cunnison's 'fishing area', Mweru-Luapula, and Andrew J. DeRoche on Frances Bolton, Margaret Tibbetts and US relations with the Rhodesian Federation. [ASC Leiden abstract] Show less
This article examines the historical process leading to the emergence of Anglophone nationalism in public space during the liberalisation process in the 1990s in Cameroon. Anglophone nationalism... Show moreThis article examines the historical process leading to the emergence of Anglophone nationalism in public space during the liberalisation process in the 1990s in Cameroon. Anglophone nationalism poses a severe threat to the post-colonial State's nation-building project that has been driven by the firm determination of the Francophone political elite to dominate the Anglophone minority and to erase the cultural and the institutional foundations of Anglophone identity. Persistent attempts by the Francophone-dominated State to control the newly created Anglophone movements have made Anglophone nationalists resort to less obtrusive forms of resistance, creating public space for an Anglophone identity and nationhood in historical, artistic, virtual, legal and everyday domains. Bibliographical references, notes, and summary in English and French. [Journal abstract] Show less
