The major socio-political changes of the last decades have led to changing ways of being national, changes in the content of national identity if not in the national categories themselves.
This comparative social scientific volume takes examples of transitions to democracy (East Europe, Spain) to peace (South Africa, Israel, Northern Ireland) and to territorial decentralization (the United Kingdom, France, Spain), showing in each case how socio-political change and identity change have interlocked. It defines a typology of national identity shift, tracing the changing state forms which provoke national identity shift, and analyzing the process of identity change, its motivations and legitimations. Collecting together a wide range of examples, from South Africa to the Czech Republic from the Basque Country to the Mexican and Irish borders; the book brings together an interdisciplinary group of scholars, from world figures in the study of globalization and social identity to young researchers, to provide a much needed theoretical clarification and empirical evidence of types of national identity shift.
Introduction. Concepts and Theories.Fluid or Frozen? Choice and Change in Ethno-National Identification in Contemporary Northern Ireland. The Social Map: Cohesion, Conflict and National Identity. The Increasing Monopolization of Identity by the State: The Case of the UK and the US. When Politics and Social Theory Converge: Group Identification and Group Rights in Northern Ireland. The Role of the State. After 1989, Who are the Czechs?Subjective National Identities in Catalonia. 'Dollar Diplomacy': Globalization, Identity Change and Peace in Israel. Economic Integration and National Identity in Mexico. Majority-Minority Conflicts and their Resolution: Protestant Minorities in France and in Ireland. Processes and Experiences of National Identity Change.Basque Militant Youths in France: New Experiences of Ethnonational Identity in the European Context. Race, Religion and Identity in South Africa: A Case Study of a Charismatic Congregation. Being English in North Wales: Immigration and the Immigrant Experience. Religion, Ethnicity and Group Identity: Irish Adolescent Views. Generations on the Border: Changes in Ethno-National Identity in the Irish Border Area.
This series draws attention to some of the most exciting issues in current world political debate: nation-building, autonomy and self-determination; ethnic identity, conflict and accommodation; pluralism, multiculturalism and the politics of language; ethnonationalism, irredentism and separatism; and immigration, naturalization and citizenship. The series includes monographs as well as edited volumes, and through the use of case studies and comparative analyses will bring together some of the best work to be found in the field.