Does Nationhood Promote Egalitarian Justice?

Author(s):  
Nils Holtug

The national identity argument suggests that sharing a national identity fosters social cohesion. This chapter considers a specific version of the argument, according to which shared national identities are required for, or at least facilitate, trust and solidarity and therefore egalitarian redistribution. The argument is assessed in terms of the theoretical arguments that can be provided for believing that national identities create trust and solidarity, more specifically, the ‘sympathy account’ and the ‘predictability account’ are considered. Furthermore, empirical studies that test the proposed causal relationship between national identity and social cohesion are scrutinized, focusing in particular on a recent Danish study. It is concluded that neither these theoretical considerations nor the available empirical evidence supports the national identity argument.

1990 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 149-171 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jan van der Wal

The empirical studies on mourning after suicide were evaluated systematically with the aid of a descriptive model of grief. The starting point in the formulation of this model is the assumption that the bereaved are active in their processing of the loss. The current stages and component theories are rejected on the grounds of empirical contra-evidence and theoretical considerations. Instead, a framework of tasks of bereavement is presented in which the essential tasks confronting survivors in their adaption to the loss are formulated: detachment of the deceased, preserving a satisfactory self-image, and keeping in contact with people who can be of support during the grief process. An examination is made of what is known about the situation of survivors of suicide in this respect. Grief after suicide appears to differ on a number of qualitative aspects from grief after other causes of death. These differences probably do not, however, lead to an atypical mourning process. Generally speaking, the grief process seems to show the same course and main features as those occurring after other types of death, especially after sudden unnatural death. It can be concluded from the literature reviewed that there is no empirical evidence to support the popular notion that survivors of suicide show more pathological reactions, a more complicated and prolonged grief process, than other survivor groups.


2021 ◽  
pp. 197-220
Author(s):  
Nils Holtug

Chapter 7, on nationalism, addresses the so-called ‘national identity argument’, according to which a shared national identity fosters social cohesion and is required for, or at least facilitates, egalitarian redistribution. First, it is argued that the prospect for nation-building policies, built on the idea of a shared national culture, is severely restricted by the liberal egalitarian requirements of justice defended in Chapter 4. Then the causal mechanism through which a national culture is supposed to promote trust and solidarity is scrutinized, and it is argued that it is not really supported by, for example, social identity theory and evidence from social psychology. Finally, empirical studies of the effect of national identity on trust and solidarity are considered, and it is argued that these do not support the national identity argument either.


2011 ◽  
Vol 39 (2) ◽  
pp. 237-255 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcela Veselkova ◽  
Julius Horvath

An expanding literature on money and identity is built around the assumption that political elites deliberately use currency design to foster national identities. However, the empirical evidence in favor of this assumption has been fragmentary. Drawing on detailed primary sources we demonstrate nationalist intentions of political elites involved in currency design. We also examine how political elites use banknotes as official pronouncements on who is and who is not part of the nation and what the official attitude toward foreigners is. By tracing changes in the inclusive and exclusive messages directed at an intra-state or international audience we document that there is no connection between ingroup (national) love and outgroup (foreigners, minorities, opposition) hate. The amount of exclusive messages to outgroups culminated in conditions of perceived threat when political leaders tried to mobilize pre-existing identities to secure or maintain political power. In contrast, the officials deliberately tried to broaden ingroup boundaries in order to build international communities. Finally, we document that in the case of limited support for the new conception of identity, officials tried to depict the old and the new identity as complementary, embedding the new identity in existing discourses.


Genealogy ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 40
Author(s):  
Antonia María Ruiz Jiménez ◽  
Nieves Aquino Llinares ◽  
Elena Ferri Fuentevilla

This article aims to elucidate the effects of the Great Recession and the retrenchment of welfare on national identity in several European countries. While different authors have observed that good economic performance, redistribution, and the growth of welfare strengthen countries as political communities of solidarity, there is much less empirical evidence regarding the consequences of an economic crisis for national identity. To investigate these consequences, we focus on a set of countries where the 2008 Great Recession resulted in different impacts, namely, Germany and four countries in Southern Europe (Italy, Spain, Portugal, and Greece). We use secondary quantitative data from Eurobarometer surveys to test aggregated and individual hypotheses relating to both the size and direction of the Great Recession’s effects on national identity. Our results suggest that the roles and impacts of economic variables may be different depending on the relative economic performance of a country within its own context. It seems easier to confirm that good economic performance, in relative terms, might strengthen national identity than proving that poor economic performance will weaken national identity. Even if no definitive empirical evidence can be given at this point, our data suggest a rationalization or compensation mechanism such that citizens look for where to anchor their strong national identities after they have decided on them. If an economy is performing well, then it would become a good anchorage for holding a strong national identity; however, if an economy is not performing well, then economic factors will cease to be a fundamental element for national identity holders.


2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 77
Author(s):  
Bishnu Prasad Dahal

The main purpose of this study is to investigate the different aspects of Nepalese patriotic songs. Here, lyrics of patriotic songs are reviewed and their contents are analyzed. This study is focused on how these patriotic songs assist to promote Nepalese nationalism, national beauties, national identities and national unity. It is the representative expression of all national songs and patriotic songs all over the country. Music in the form of the national songs and patriotic songs were and remain essential components of national identity and national unity. These songs are popular and accepted by Nepalese citizens as a part of their national identity and such affinities are supported by the songs’ repeated broadcast and consumption on Radio Nepal, various other Radios, Nepal Television, private television channels and social media platforms. It is found form the research that patriotic music provides a means for social cohesion, not via the propagation of dogmatic patriotic content, but through the personal and intimate associations that such songs solicit from individual citizens.


Author(s):  
Gina Gustavsson ◽  
David Miller

The current rise of nationalism in Europe and elsewhere is often said to pose a threat to liberal values. Liberal nationalists argue in reply that nationalism can take a liberal form, and in doing so provide support for both democracy and social justice. The chapter uses empirical evidence to show that people continue to identify strongly with their countries; such identities can exist alongside local, regional, and continental ones. Nor are those who feel close to their country only those who are less educated or politically conservative. The chapter explores whether national identities can be classed as either ethnic or civic, concluding that the prevalence of cultural factors shows that no such sharp distinction can be drawn. Finally, survey evidence is used to show that having a stronger national identity does not correlate with having more authoritarian (and therefore less liberal) views on matters such as civil rights and religious tolerance.


2021 ◽  
pp. 003232172110500
Author(s):  
John Kenny ◽  
Anthony Heath ◽  
Lindsay Richards

British and English national identities have long been considered to have porous boundaries whereby English individuals consider the terms more or less interchangeable. However, there is no empirical evidence to demonstrate whether primary feelings of either Britishness or Englishness are highly fluid within-individuals or whether individuals are consistent in their perceptions of their British or English identity. This is especially relevant in the post-Brexit referendum context where national identity is highly correlated with Brexit attitudes. Using panel data, we demonstrate that there is a notable degree of fluidity between identifying as British or English. This is higher than the fluidity between other national identities in the UK as well as more fluid than moving between any partisan or EU referendum identities. Remainers are more fluid than Leavers in their Englishness, whereas they are similar in the fluidity of their Britishness.


Author(s):  
Nasar Meer

The purpose of this chapter is to locate the discussion about Muslims in Scotland in relation to questions of national identity and multicultural citizenship. While the former has certainly been a prominent feature of public and policy debate, the latter has largely been overshadowed by constitutional questions raised by devolution and the referenda on independence. This means that, while we have undoubtedly progressed since MacEwen (1980) characterised the treatment of ‘race-relations’ in Scotland as a matter either of ‘ignorance or apathy’, the issue of where ethnic, racial and religious minorities rest in the contemporary landscape remains unsettled. One of the core arguments of this chapter is that these issues are all interrelated, and that the present and future status of Muslims in Scotland is tied up with wider debates about the ‘national question’. Hitherto, however, study of national identity in Scotland has often (though not always) been discussed in relation to the national identities of England, Wales and Britain as a whole.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xunbing Shen

Microexpressions do exist, and they are regarded as valid cues to deception by many researchers, furthermore, there is a lot of empirical evidence which substantiates this claim. However, some researchers don’t think the microexpression can be a way to catch a liar. The author elucidates the theories predicting that looking for microexpressions can be a way to catch a liar, and notes that some data can support for the utilization of microexpressions as a good way to detect deception. In addition, the author thinks that the mixed results in the area of investigating microexpressions and deception detection may be moderated by the stake. More empirical studies which employ high-stake lies to explore the relationship between microexpressions and deception detection are needed.


Author(s):  
Avner Baz

The chapter argues that empirical studies of first-language acquisition lend support to the Wittgensteinian-Merleau-Pontian conception of language as against the prevailing conception that underwrites the method of cases in either its armchair or experimental version. It offers a non-representationalist model, inspired by the work of Michael Tomasello, for the acquisition of “knowledge,” with the aim of showing that we could fully account for the acquisition of this and other philosophically troublesome words without positing independently existing “items” to which these words refer. The chapter also aims at bringing out and underscoring the striking fact that, whereas many in contemporary analytic philosophy regard and present themselves as open and attentive to empirical science, they have often relied on a conception of language that has been supported by no empirical evidence.


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