Creating a country through currency and stamps: state symbols and nation-building in British-ruled Palestine

Abstract

. Recent studies have examined the use of currency and stamps for nation‐building in various contexts, with these artefacts seen as vehicles for indoctrination and gaining legitimacy by ruling elites – as a form of “banal nationalism”. This article goes further to argue that in moments of geopolitical upheaval, these symbolic artefacts can play a crucial role in shaping the very framework of nationhood. This article focuses on the Middle East during World War I and its aftermath, and on British efforts to shape public opinion through the issuing of Palestine postage stamps and currency (1920–7), which were intended to convey Britain's commitment to Zionism. Parallels are drawn to the introduction of Arab stamps and flags during the Arab Revolt (1916–18). The benefit to Zionist nation‐building and “Hebrew Revival” is discussed, as well as the strikingly different reactions of local constituencies – Arabs and Jews – to the political message of these symbolic objects.

The Danish euro: constructing a monetary oxymoron in the Danish euro debate

“…Some scholars have focused on the imagery displayed on notes and coins, including Gilbert (1998Gilbert ( , 1999, Hewitt (1999), A.R. Sørensen 32 Mwangi (2002), Hewitt (2001, 2004), Raento, Hämäläinen, Ikonen, and Mikkonen (2004), Berezin (2006), Hymans (2006), Lauer (2008), Hawkins (2010), Wallach (2011) and Penrose (2011). Hymans (2006) and Berezin (2006), in particular, point to the careful considerations of the European Commission that went into the design and iconography of the new European currency.…”

The glory and demise of monetary nationalism in the post‐communist Baltic states

“…This paper contributes to the growing body of research on the role of currencies in nation building as symbols of national identity (Dodd , , ; Gilbert ; Gilbert and Helleiner ; Helleiner , , , ; Helleiner and Pickel ; Kaelberer , ; Lauer ; Meier‐Pesti and Kirchler ; Müller‐Peters ; Peebles ; Penrose ; Penrose and Cumming ; Popadopoulos ; Sørensen , ; Unwin and Hewitt ; Wallach ). According to my working definition of monetary nationalism, this is the variety of nationalism, which conceives of national currency as an essential element of nation state and national identity (‘one nation, one money’).…”

The ideological work of the daily visual representations of nations

“…While flags have been exemplars of this process, other artefacts, from stamps (Hoyo 2012), currency (Sørensen 2016;Wallach 2011), food (Hiroko 2008;Palmer 1998;Vackimes 2013) and airplanes (Thurlow and Aiello 2007) to bodies and landscapes (Palmer 1998), participate in this process. Yet in spite of this growing empirical interest in this direction, little work focuses on how these different objects come together, constituting an environment for daily life.…”