Nation as the Form of Identity - Research Paper Example

What demarcates nations from other forms of identity?       The integrated concept of Nation and National Identity had its birth during the 18th and 19th century onwards .There is an ongoing process of industrialization, modernization, globalization and liberalization and every country is passing through these processes for their development and growth. A nation is sometimes defined   as people who are comprised of single/ multi ethnic group with common ancestry and shared history. Presently it manifests a shared culture, different religions and many languages country. It is contained within clear and defined territorial border. This is organized by the government and the people derive benefits from democracy, citizenship and equal rights from constitution of the country. (Smith, 1993, introduction)       The term identity refers to the phrase ‘who am I” or “who are we”. Identity is interpreted to establish what and where the person stands in social and political arena. It requires recognition by others and a sense of belongingness. Identity is defined as reflective capacity for producing consciousness of activities within limits posed at any given environment and biological structure. Identity of a nation is a concept of continuity over a period of time and different from others. It emerges from historically rooted society having reflection in future- “Differentiation comes from consciousness of forming a distinct community with culture, past, symbols and traditions of a nation”. (Guibernau, 2008, p. 9)       National identity is a collective sentiment based upon beliefs of the citizens and sharing of attributes that differentiates from others. Identity is for the people and of the people. It is an important phenomenon consisting of common culture, old history, kinship, language, religion, territory with varying intensity to share a natural and national identity. Such identity is attributed to citizens of national state as well as nations. (Guibernau, 2008, p.11) It also applies to people without states like Quebec, Catalonis etc. Persons those who belong to a nation without state   are generally opposed to the common culture and national identity. But it does not become big problem in creating identity of the state. National identity is constituted by a set of traits belonging to a nation. Nation being a human group “conscious of forming a community sharing a common culture in defined geographical territory” (Halbert, n.d., p.2) Identity refers to an aim and objective to reach to a higher goal by means of preserving the heritage and brand image of the nation. Thus not only it asks for preservation of last and past memories but also to hang before the future generation and other nations of the world. There are five dimensions of national identity, which are stated as: 1. Psychological dimension 2. Cultural dimension 3. Territorial dimension 4. Historical dimension 5. Political dimension (Guibernau, 2008, p. 11 & 12) Psychological dimension of nation’s identity arises from consciousness of forming a group based on feeling of belongingness to a nation. It emerges from emotional bond among fellow citizens. The psychological feeling about its own country of an individual is the most important factor in crating a relationship amongst the fellow citizens of the country and this feeling is transformed from person to person. Ultimately a bond is created  amongst the individuals of the community ,which has ultimate reflection in collective identity .The internalization of national identity in a specific culture give birth the emotion and enhances the power of national belongingness. A common enriched culture cherished by a nation indicates it that there exists country. Such things bind the people of elite class and the poor class of the society in one thread. It helps the people of the state to share the good feelings amongst themselves. This has a great impact ion the society. It helps in social cohesion and extends unity amongst the citizens of varied and different people. Cultural and linguistic homogenization is a slow process in run and during the present century social movements aims to preserve and encourage cultural and linguistic mode in a geographical territory that have taken the place. Culture of a race or a nation is constituted by its own individuals and it becomes a repetitive habit of the people to perform and belief in that. Culture is a combination of so many aspects of community and it is the reflection of feeling and thinking of a community and it is expressed through performances in the society. Each and every country has got different races and separate communities. They observe and experience their own culture and it goes on from one generation to next generation until and unless there is abrupt changes in the family set up. Each country thus having more than one race and one language enjoys the identity no doubt. But the matter becomes complex and complicated when a nation rears up multi-culture, multi race and adopting each ethnic minority maintaining separately their own culture and beliefs. Though there are eruptions which takes place from time to time and it take some times to subdue. This type of problem is not apparent in other countries like Pakistan and Bhutan and Nepal. These countries in example suffer from other traditional problems like Maoism and fundamentalism. Both the countries are victim of problems of other kind and they are complex in nature which is not expected to be sorted out in near future.       People feel talking and remembering of ancient roots and finds strength in history to make a journey in the future. A country goes through ups and downs of the history of its own. It creates events for the citizens of that country, who are and were in touch with these events. “Nations remember admirable and awesome experiences” including “national suffering and humiliation” (Guibernau, 2008, p.20). Each nation speaks of its special features and claims its superiority over the rest of the nations. People are fond of these and they like to compare and contrast with the other countries as well. Most of the people have got their pastime on this subject. This creates a identity of the nation. When Bangladesh was born in 1971 through its heroic war by a section of its members, other section still is a pray of this section’s political activities.       Political identity is explained as a “property shared by citizens of a nation / state” (Guibernau, 2008, p.23). In true sense it refers to those qualities shared by those who belong to the nation and each nation has got varied races. In political arena spread of one party’s opinion over the others is a common phenomenon. The aim of such activities is to gain the thrown of power and justice. Political achievement becomes the aim of the political parties. In every country these types of attempts go on and every nation is separated by the political standard the state is adopting. Here a state demarcated from another by means of the political situation prevailing in the country. Each country is having different groups cultivating different ideology and diverse opinions. The dominant group imposes their culture and language within its territory and seeks to create a single nation out of various races and ranks. It focuses on actions to the state aimed to construct a cohesive society through a set of strategies designed to generate a homogenous citizenry through creation of national education system and national media and promoting a national culture. An ideal example to adopt here is that of India which is known as a land of diversities. After the independence India thought it prudent to have one language in one country in order to tie up the people of more than 52 languages spoken country. Such type of attempts is not made in a country like Bangladesh where language of majority people has become the language of the state. By means of common one language a big country can be united together so that people of the country can feel that they do belong to one nation. This forms the national identity. (Poole, 1999, p.15) There are several factors which demarcate one nation from another. Construction and dissemination of a certain image of a nation and maintenance of them creates a particular identity of nation. It adopts the logo, flag, adopts the rituals. These things create a sense of feeling of oneness in the minds of the people. It is required to brings these facts in focus point of the nation and people when behaves as directed by the state it brings a new kind of attachment and sense of relationship amongst the people. French government used French revolution technique in the state and introduced to inculcate. Indian government observes 26th January of year as day of adoption and presentation of Indian Constitution to its people. This day is observed as national holiday and oath is taken to protect the country from all conditions and circumstances. Each country attempts to create its own identity amongst the other nations and build its own image. When such a creation takes place, the pronunciation the name of the country reflects a picture in the minds of the other people. This actually happens when some countries are in a position to build the same. And each country is different from the other. Creation of symbols and rituals charged aims for reinforcement a sense of community. Each and every country has got their own flags, symbols and they exercise the rituals in their own way. These are not the same for all and bound to be different .This differentiates from other countries. Well settled civil and legal rights are guaranteed to its citizens by the constitution of the country. Every country has got their own set of rights and obligations as set out in the constitution. A country may adopt a part or whole of rights of citizens from the others but it varies according to the suitability to their soil. The state confers these rights along with other gifts of the state to its citizens and facilitates loyalty towards the state itself. Such feeling of loyalty towards the country differentiates the one country from other countries. The same may hold true for a race even. Creation of common enemies during the period of external and internal threat extends the feeling of oneness amongst its citizens. Depth in national commitment varies from country to the country. When a country goes through the suffering of declared war or undeclared war or otherwise the country passes through the sense of emergency, Loyalty is increased during the time, which ultimately demarcates from another nation. For example, Pakistan during the process of combating terrorism, some groups are working against the interest of the country itself. But this does not happen for all the countries. Consolidation may not take place because of loss of trust and supremacy of one group’s opinions and ideas. Consolidation and solidarity and sense of unity in the days of grief are enhanced. Culture, both social and at workplaces are another factor which contributes to nation’s identity. An Indian migrating to USA for work always praises the alcoholic work nature of Americans in the sense that they work just like anything during the week days. This forms an image of the nation through its work culture. A country naturally builds its own work culture as well as social culture, which is developed amongst the ethnic group of people and it bounds to occur. It creates a special scenario and a brand name over a period of time through which a nation is differentiated from others. The policy of progressive consolidation of national education and national media system adopted by the government helps in forming the identity of the nation. (Guibernau, n.d., p.14) The national education system and media system policy adopted by a government speaks how the country will build its nation by educating its citizens and how the media will exercise its pioneer role in directing the country to go on proper direction. These two policies disseminate the image of the nation. These refer to national flag adopted by the nation, values expressed and valued by the country men, principles of governance adopted and values put which adds value in the system and in the society as whole. The socio economic identity of a nation some times causes differentiating with treating different social classes as a basis for identity. It has its limited emotional appeal and contains lack of cultural depth. Discrimination amongst the different classes and treating them differently is a bad practice for the country. Such activity of class identity militates against formation of a stable community. Presently some countries are affected with terrorism and ethnic cultures have got its disastrous effect on the people and the state, but it clearly indicates some special identity of a nation like Afghanistan and Pakistan. Both religion and ethnic identities have striven to include more than one class within the communities and identity is based on different spheres of human need and action emerging from commercial and social sphere, whereas class identities emerge from sphere of production and exchange. National Identity involves some sense of political ideology, which implies “common institutions and a single code of rights and duties for all members of the community” (Smith, 1991, p.9). But discriminatory treatment of different communities also forms bad image of the country and it also creates identity of a particular nation. When South Africa adopted the policy of discrimination under apartheid was subjected to criticism from the different corners of the world. Our confirmation to our own identity is the language we speak. A nation is demarcated from another nation by means of its language officially and locally. A person from Spain is called Spanish and one form France is called French. National identity has wide variety of facets and some countries are associated with certain activities like bull fighting, flamenco dancing, cycle race etc. Spain is associated with bull fighting; France is associated with cycle race. A British is known as a person who wears polished shoes and good garments, a cow boy is referred to be an American. It was supposed that the legal equality of members in a community would be bound together with the help of common traditions and values. The community must have a common culture, a civic ideology, a set of common understanding and “aspirations, sentiments and ideas” (Smith, 1991, p.11), which will bind people. This ethnic conception is flowing from western concept and similarly it demarcates from the south Asian countries from that of West European countries. In a diverse situational country like India it is hard to believe that such a large country will have a common culture. But we feel that amongst the diverse culture a common culture has to be developed through out the whole large country. It is unique and one and it very much different from that of Bangladesh and Pakistan. Every country has got its own constitution. The constitution lays down various regulations for its citizens including those of rights and obligations. The constitution thus guarantees the rights to its citizens and it also depicts the obligations that its citizens will have to perform. Thus these rights and obligations inject an idea that all traditional role of the country is enhanced and extended to the all citizens of the country. Every nation adopts some values and policies according to which all the activities of the state are conducted. In each nation the laws abide by certain principles. For instance in England the common guiding principle is that “no parent, or matter, nor all the authority of parliament, omnipotent as it has called itself, can bind or control the personal freedom even of an individual beyond the age of twenty-one years” (Paine, 1791, p.10). Few days’ back the world experienced that Pakistan created a terrorist group helped them to conduct the terrorists’ activities against its neighbor countries and lastly they were found to change their course of thinking by the pressure of another big country. Since different countries adopt the different types of moral values as seen and experienced over the days. These types of moral values are counted and it demarcates the identity of a nation from the others. When a country becomes independent it not only creates its own national flag, national flower but also adopts its own currency. Currency of one country is bound to be different from others. Of course we recently find that some countries are adopting the common currency for those countries geographically near to each other under an agreement with terms agreed upon. Currency not only works as symbol of independence but also medium of instruction and mode of payment of its obligations. Naturally currency of one country differentiates the country. Stefan Berger has pointed out that roles of historians in the matter of creation of awareness of national identity are great. He thinks that historians can rebuild the past history of German and other countries since these countries made sincere efforts to uphold the past national gallantry and honor which was very much special for the countries themselves. The past glories created national identity. In the Second World War German and Italy played a specific role in war movement, which is still remembered by the world people and it is still referred to. (Berger, 1999, p.252) In some countries when there is more than one nation, identification of identity becomes confusing in order to find out the real identity. A person from England may be British or may be Scottish. A person from Canada may be noticed as Canadian or a Quebecois. But nationalism is closely associated with national identity and it clearly marks a person his origin. From time immemorial we have found that people have sacrificed their lives for the independence of their country against human barbarism. The situations called for a psychological change in minds of the people .They hold certain values and adopted certain norms for practices. Groups having the more or less genetic similarity are the sources of identity. States from earlier days have gone for the job of integration of ethnic groups so that such groups enjoy group identity with shared attitude, shared reasons and shared morality. The western world conceived the idea of individuals while modern states talked of sacrificing individual self and individual identity and goes for group attachment and shared values. Recently there is up rise of a concept of nationalism in some corners of certain states having common heritage with desire for common association in order to achieve the most desired goals of the association. Here we have found that language and religion have been used as vehicle to catch and to reach to their members. (Smith, 1999, pp. 44-45) India faced a problem of creating national identity because of advent of one idea as regards one nation, one people, and one culture. Language differences with different dialect enhanced the problem though arguments are offered that there is close association of genes and languages. E.O. Wilson views that the concept of nationalism is an extended hand of tribalism and connotes to loyalty to the nation. (Allot, 1998) Nationalism holds the state together but the state can not avoid the danger of ethnic violation. Nationalism attempts to hold the key characteristics of collective human nature and their attitudes, common currency with common borders. The concept dreams of a nation which is against the European nations’ views in order to reduce the national differences for national commitment. National feeling and national identity is required to re-look in the changing scenario of the world and changed group behavior, since an appeal can be made by referencing to evolutionary history of the states and creating awareness as regards feeling of transcendence. The so called jihad forces of Al Qaeda have adopted the same concept with a mixture of religion and they have been successful in infusing the concept of immortality.         Research on national identity has stressed that if people feel they belong to a national state, they are prone to accept the rights and obligations as depicted in the constitution. This strengthens consolidation of democracy, growing value of human dignity, rise in level of tolerance, increased level of political participation and avoiding all forms of discrimination. The issue is associated with a particular moral concept. It is an important matter. Its aim is to form a national identity amongst the multi language speakers in alliance with a political will; it was able to form a bond across the country. Identity is constructed with a theme of relations with others. It should be felt in the heart and expressed so that benefits can be well derived by a country.  References: 1. Allot, R. (1998). Group Identity And Nation Identity, European Sociobiological Society, Moscow, available at: http://www.percepp.com/groupnat.htm (accessed on June 2, 2009) 2. Berger, S. (1999) “Historian and the search for national identity in reunified Germany”, Writing National Histories, S. Berger, M. Donovan and K. Passmore, Routledge, London 3. Cameron, K. (1999). National Identity, Bristol: Intellectual Books  4. Guibernau, M. (2008) The identity of Nation, Cambridge: Polity 5. Guibernau, M. (n.d.) Nation Formation and National Identity, The Open University, available at: http://www.flwi.ugent.be/btng-rbhc/pdf/BTNG-RBHC,%2034,%202004,%204,%20pp%20657-682.pdf (accessed on June 2, 2009) 6. Halbert, K. (n.d.) History in the making: constructions of ‘nation’ and ‘citizen’, James Cook University, Townsville. 7. Paine, T. (1991) Rights of Man, Oxford: Oxford University 8. Smith, A.D. (1993). National Identity, University of Nevada, Nevada. 9. Simon Coleman, P. (2004) Religion, Identity & Change, London: Ashgate Publishing Read More