Americans are reminded daily that their society did not emerge from some dark ancestral past but was deliberately created ID a revolutionary, ideological act. In formal state activities and more banal 'flaggings', Americans demonstrate their commitment to the national creed of human freedom, self-government, individualIsm and mutual self-help. Such abstract concepts associated with American civic nationalism, however, require translation into expressive forms that are made to mean something to Americans. It is my thesis that geography, and especially geographical scales, contribute to the provisIOn of that functIOn in the constitution of Amencan national identities. Extendmg recent work in human geography, social theory, and discourse analysis, this thesis analyses banal nationalism in the Saturday Evening Post in the first half of the Cold War to show how national identities can emerge from processes of cultural production. I discuss the social construction of domestic, local, natIonal, and global scales in the Post and the articulation of national IdentitIes through these geographical scales. I analyse the symbols and meanmgs of national identities that each of these scales articulate, as well as identIfying changes and contmuities III those identities over the course of the early Cold War period. The result is a deeper understanding of how civic nationalism operates in American society and how geography is central to that process.

This study focuses on nationalism in Central and Eastern Europe. Anchored in theories that this region historically has been characterized by a nationalism that is based on the ethnic group rather than on liberal or civic concepts, it is the purpose of this study to explore whether these theories still apply in recent times when the region has been liberalized, for example manifested in the entry to the European Union. The research question has been tested through analysis of the constitutions of a number of Central and Eastern European countries in order to investigate what type of nationalism that the states have codified in their basic political documents. The results show that some of the states give expression to the historical ethnic nationalism in their constitutions, which indicates that the theories still are relevant.

This study focuses on nationalism in Central and Eastern Europe. Anchored in theories that this region historically has been characterized by a nationalism that is based on the ethnic group rather than on liberal or civic concepts, it is the purpose of this study to explore whether these theories still apply in recent times when the region has been liberalized, for example manifested in the entry to the European Union. The research question has been tested through analysis of the constitutions of a number of Central and Eastern European countries in order to investigate what type of nationalism that the states have codified in their basic political documents. The results show that some of the states give expression to the historical ethnic nationalism in their constitutions, which indicates that the theories still are relevant.

My thesis asks why Taiwan does not facilitate a path to citizenship to recent immigrants, despite the obvious advantages to do so, as the government’s attempt to promote its society as a model of civic nationalism in Asia, in relation to the pressing need to address labour shortages caused by population aging. I argue that the political economy of care provision that seeks to address the latter problem trumps concerns over national identity. I will look at the changes in the supply of labour in the sector of care since the 1990s as the evidence. Taiwan illustrates the case of East Asian nations’ rapid transition to post-industrial societies, which are now confronted with acute socio-demographic and care crises stemming from aging populations, low fertility rates and a traditional reliance on the family to provide social welfare. This thesis argues that this change in the supply of labour represents a key indicator of the multiple dimensions of the question of exclusion faced by migrant domestic workers in Taiwan. Civil society actors promoting Taiwan’s civic nationalism in the feminist and labour movements and in a few religious associations are unable to address the rights of foreign live-in caregivers because of the dynamics of the political economy of care in Asia and its dependence on migration for reproductive labour.

This article sets out to examine how different levels and types of nationalism are correlated with attitudes towards democracy, a relationship that has not received much attention in previous research. I aim to investigate this relationship by examining how two forms of national identities (ethnic and civic) affect attitudes towards democracy in 30 European countries. Individual data comes from the European Social Survey (2008). The results indicate a significant and strong association between national identities and attitudes towards democracy. Individuals who articulate high levels of ethnic nationalism are less supportive of democracy than those who express high levels of civic nationalism. At country level, two variables are used: diversity and the extent to which democracy is established. Data that describes level of diversity comes from the Eurostat (2008) The index of democracy comes from Economist Intelligence Unit (2008). The structure of the dataset is hierarchical; therefore I have used multilevel models to avoid obtaining biased coefficients and standard errors. The study shows that higher levels of diversity and democracy, in general, amplify support for democracy, but, a high degree of diversity amplifies the negative relationship between ethnic nationalism and support of democracy and a high degree of democracy amplifies the positive relationship between ethnic nationalism and preferences for non-democratic rule.

This thesis is a critical examination of civic nationalism that focuses on the disconnect between nationalist ideology and the social bases of nationhood, and the implications that this disconnect has for the feasibility of civic nationalism as a policy prescription for issues such as intra-state nationalist conflict and immigrant integration. While problems with the principles of civic nationalist ideology are important, my focus here is the more significant problem that civic nationalism is based on a general theory of nations and nationalism that treats them as solely ideological phenomena. Against this I argue that the term ‘nationalism’ refers to several different phenomena, most importantly a ‘system of culture’ or way of organizing society as described by Ernest Gellner and Benedict Anderson, and that augmenting Gellner and Anderson’s theories with the kind of relational social theory used by authors such as Rogers Brubaker and Charles Tilly provides an alternative explanation that is a better match for the evidence. If this is the case, I contend, then civic nationalism is both a misrepresentation of the history of nations and nationalism and infeasible as a prescription for policy issues such as intra-state nationalist conflict and immigrant integration. These arguments are supported with empirical evidence that is principally drawn from four cases: France, the United States, Northern Ireland, and Canada. / Thesis (Ph.D, Political Studies) -- Queen's University, 2012-11-27 11:21:47.013

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Vladimir Putin has been President of Russian Federation for almost 20 years. Powerful politicians of that importance and duration warrant research to understand their personal beliefs in a variety of topics. This study sets out to understand Putin’s opinions on a range of subjects such as multiculturalism, patriotism, and ethnicity to determine “What kind of nationalist is Vladimir Putin?” This question is answered by using four distinct ideal types of nationalism; civic, ethno-cultural, multicultural, and religious. Most of the research material consists of primary texts or articles written by Vladimir Putin, five in total, and two excerpts from answers given by Putin in press conferences. The reason for choosing these specific sources is because they provide direct information on Putin’s opinions and beliefs. After analysis the author of this article has concluded that Vladimir Putin closely resembles the civic nationalism ideal type; however, Putin is also very to the close ethno-cultural nationalism and to some extent multiculturalism with insignificant overlap with religious nationalism. The main reason for this conclusion is because of Putin’s reoccurring encouragement of patriotism through loyalty to the Russian state. Putin has also expressed ethno-cultural statements such as viewing Russian people as the “state building people” in Russia and seeing Russian culture and language as the dominant culture for Russia, not in the sense of stating the fact that majority of Russia is Russian, but also that it should continue being dominant. Not just by language and culture but also by prohibiting nationalist-regionalist political parties.

The myth of the citizen-soldier resonates strongly in the American imagination and helps (re)construct America the nation. The construction of this myth in the historical context of World War II is especially prominent in contemporary American culture. The myth of the World War II citizen-soldier functions as an individualized discursive formation with specific rules of formation. I contextualize the construction of this individualized discursive formation within the historical era of World War II, and show how it excludes in direct contradiction to the ideals of civic nationalism that shaped the concept of national citizenship of that era. The United States military, which changed to an All Volunteer Force in 1973, functions as a neoliberal state apparatus in modern America. However, the United States Military still largely relies on the rules of formation and the ideals of civic nationalism in order to recruit volunteers for its forces. Traces of the myths of World War II, particularly the myth of the citizen-soldier, can still be found in the United States Army's recruitment material in its current "Army Strong" campaign despite the contradictory ideals of civic nationalism and neoliberalism. I conduct a Critical Discourse Analysis of three recruitment television commercials from the "Army Strong" campaign aired in 2009. I explain how the United States Army uses both the ideals of civic nationalism and the characteristics of neoliberalism in order to encourage potential recruits to join its ranks. / Master of Arts

Åland har ett av världens mest omfattande nationalitetsskydd, men med snart hundra år på nacken är det inte alltid det går ihop med nyare konventioner om mänskliga rättigheter. Denna uppsats undersöker hur det åländska nationalitetsskyddet har kommenterats av Europarådets rådgivande kommitté i deras arbete med att övervaka implementeringen av ramkonventionen om skydd för nationella minoriteter. Dessa kommentarer och den åländska utvecklingen granskas i förhållande till Will Kymlickas teori om minoritetsnationalism, vilken framför att nationella minoriteter, liksom majoritetsbefolkningar, kan frångå en främlingsfientlig och exkluderande nationalism baserad på etnicitet och anta en inkluderande medborgerlig nationalism som är öppen och välkomnande gentemot invandring. För att detta ska ske menar Kymlicka att minoriteten behöver ett visst inflytande över immigrationsflöden och integrationsbestämmelser, där framför allt de senare utgör en viktig del av det åländska nationalitetsskyddet. Med hjälp av idéanalys har den åländska nationalismen analyserats, och resultaten visar att den har gått från att ha etniska inslag till att anta tydligt medborgerliga drag. Den åländska behörigheten gällande immigration och integration samt den rådgivande kommitténs övervakning har även kartlagts, vilket visar att kommittén hittills har kommit både med förslag som vid förverkligande skulle stärka det åländska nationalitetsskyddet och sådana som skulle försvaga det. / The Åland Islands enjoy one of the world’s most extensive systems of cultural and linguistic safeguards. It was, however, created almost one hundred years ago, which often makes its compliance with more recent human rights treaties complicated. This thesis examines how the Advisory Committee of the European Council has commented on the cultural and linguistic safeguards of the Åland Islands in its monitoring work regarding the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities. These comments and the Ålandic developments are analysed in relation to Will Kymlicka’s theory on minority nationalism, which states that national minorities, like majority populations, can leave a xenophobic and exclusionary nationalism based on ethnicity and adapt an inclusive civic nationalism that is open and welcoming towards immigration. Kymlicka argues that this requires that the minority exercise some control over the volume of immigration and over the terms of integration, where particularly the latter form an integral part of Åland’s cultural and linguistic safeguards. Ålandic nationalism has been analysed using an analysis of ideas, and the results show that it has gone from having ethnic features to showing clear civic characteristics. The competences of the Åland Islands in the areas of immigration and integration and the monitoring of the Advisory Committee have also been examined, which shows that the Committee so far has brought forward proposals that would strengthen the Ålandic safeguards as well as proposals that would weaken them.