The construction of collective identity

Abstract

A general typological model for the analysis of collective identify is outlined and applied to the case of German and Japanese national identity. Primordial, civic and cultural codes of boundary construction are described with respect to their logic of exclusion, corresponding rituals etc. German national identity is presented as a cultural project carried by the ‘Bildungsbürgertum’, whereas the Japanese identity is presented as a combination of primordial and civic elements.

Collective Identity and Expressive Forms

“…These processes have been conceptualized as variants of "identity work," which encompasses the range of activities people engage in, both individually and collectively, to signify and express who they are and what they stand for in relation or contrast to some set of others (Schwalbe and MasonSchrock 1996; Snow and Anderson 1987;Snow and McAdam 2000). At its core is the generation, invocation, and maintenance of symbolic resources used to bound and distinguish the collectivity both internally and externally by accenting commonalities and differences (Eisenstadt and Giesen 1995;Schwalbe and Mason-Schrock 1996;Taylor and Whittier 1992). Symbolic resources include the interpretive frameworks (or frames), avowed and imputed names, and dramaturgical codes of expression and demeanor (e.g., particularistic styles of storytelling, dress, adornment, and music) that are generated and employed during the course of a collectivity's efforts to distinguish itself from one or more other collectivities.…”

“…Thus, it can be argued that collective identity is constituted by a shared and interactive sense of "we-ness" and "collective agency." This double-edged sense can be culled from classic sociological constructs such as Durkheim's "collective conscience" and Marx's "class consciousness," but is reflected even more clearly in most conceptual discussions of collective identity, although the agentic dimension is sometimes implied rather than directly articulated (e.g., Castells 1997;Cerulo 1997;Eisenstadt and Giesen 1995;Jasper and Polletta 2001;Jensen 1995;Levitas 1995;Melucci 1989Melucci , 1995.…”

Where Is Wales? Narrating the Territories and Borders of the Welsh Linguistic Nation

“…Identities, and their related borders and spaces or 'territories', in this sense, can be local or transnational in character and can conceivably exist with little reference to state boundaries and territories (see COHEN, 1982;EISENSTADT and GIESEN, 1995). Similarly, work in critical geopolitics has shown how different actors are involved in the reproduction of both territories and boundaries.…”

Imperial expansion, public investment, and the long path of history: China’s initial political unification and its aftermath

“…Why did areas distant and less threatened by the northern frontier reintegrate, and why did the repeated reestablishment of empire reunify a landscape close to the limits achieved originally by the Qin? These unanswered questions belie a problematic but oft-held premise: that widespread cooperation was somehow easy to attain in China, perhaps because the populace shared a long-standing cultural tradition or ethnic identity (11).…”