Introduction
Modern nation creation and nation building has long been considered to require the construction of unity and coherence among citizens through civic and national equality and standardization. These features were easier to achieve when they were underpinned by a unity of language, of descent, of tradition and often, of religion. Such unity was celebrated by the Founding Fathers of the United States.Click on image (which is reproduced by permission of David Behrens www.davidbehrens.com ) for supporting quote.
In the nineteenth century, John Stuart Mill wrote:
Free institutions are next to impossible in a country made up of different nationalities. Among a people without fellow-feeling, especially if they read and speak different languages, the united public opinion necessary to the working of representative government cannot exist.
So smaller ‘nationalities’ and minority populations were expected to assimilate into one of the ‘great nations’ of the time, which were the standard bearers of historical development. In the nineteenth century, this made common sense!
Click on the political thinker for his views on why this made sense.
For many contemporary liberal nationalists, national unity and coherence is still based on the common identity of citizens that share a common language and cultural heritage.
However, as we shall see in this activity, the ‘fit’ between a person’s identity and their nationality is not a simple one.
Questions to consider
- How would you describe your own identity?
- What does being British (or being your own nationality) mean to you?
- Take a look at the YouGov survey. According to this report, what do people think ‘Britishness’ is about?
News feeds