‘A sense of where you belong in the world’: national belonging, ontological security and the status of the ethnic majority in England

Abstract

. The significance of national forms of imagination and organisation has been increasingly questioned in an era of rapid globalisation. While theoretically stimulating, those who stress the importance of global mobility and sociability sometimes overlook what well‐established, “thick” attachments to the nation offer to disparate individuals, notably in terms of anchoring subjectivity. This first part of this paper explores how debates around belonging in England continue to define certain “ethnic” groups as more or less national, because they embody certain traits, practices or norms. It is then suggested that those who claim, and are treated as if, they belong “without question” may be offered a key sense of material and ontological security that is underpinned through routine practices, symbolic forms and institutional arrangements. The second section looks to evidence this argument by exploring how challenges to this ontological order, which focus on the agency of “perceived” others in relation to everyday spaces, practices and material objects, are debated and resisted.

‘Mindless Markers of the Nation’: The Routine Flagging of Nationhood Across the Visual Environment

“…Likewise, there is some evidence that the growing ethic diversity of the population in Britain, and concomitant debates around multiculturalism and community cohesion, is producing a response among the ethnic majority, which has sometimes manifested itself in more aggressive displays of national markers (Skey 2010) -similar processes have also been observed in Australia (Fozdar et al 2014) and the US (Collins 2004).…”

“…All that can be said with confidence is that these are experienced … every day (2009: 165) Therefore, understanding the value, or otherwise, of a particular marker or indeed the visual environment as a whole would require a very different research project. Having said that, I have argued elsewhere that the sheer range of these everyday features may be of practical and psychological value in underpinning everyday interactions and providing an ongoing sense of self, place and community (Skey 2011(Skey , 2013. Indeed, there is a growing body of evidence that the significance of such symbols, objects and infrastructure really come to the fore when they are scrutinised or replaced by 'foreign' alternatives (Blokland 2003, Wise 2010.…”

Rajan turvallistaminen ja poikkeustilan arjen geopolitiikka

“…Poliittisen psykologian tutkimuksessa ontologisen turvallisuuden käsitteen avulla on lähestytty muun muassa kansalliseen kiinnittyviä turvallisuuden ja kuulumisen kokemuksia (Kinnvall 2004;Skey 2010). Esimerkiksi kansallisen identiteettikertomuksen on esitetty ylläpitävän siihen identifioituvien ihmisten kokemusta turvallisuudesta: kuulumisesta, tuttuudesta, jatkuvuudesta ja ennustettavuudesta (Skey 2010).…”

“…Poliittisen psykologian tutkimuksessa ontologisen turvallisuuden käsitteen avulla on lähestytty muun muassa kansalliseen kiinnittyviä turvallisuuden ja kuulumisen kokemuksia (Kinnvall 2004;Skey 2010). Esimerkiksi kansallisen identiteettikertomuksen on esitetty ylläpitävän siihen identifioituvien ihmisten kokemusta turvallisuudesta: kuulumisesta, tuttuudesta, jatkuvuudesta ja ennustettavuudesta (Skey 2010). Nämä kaksi teoreettista lähestymistapaa, turvallistaminen biopoliittisena hallintana ja kollektiivinen ontologinen turvallisuus, tarjoavat varsin erilaisen näkökulman siihen, miten turvallisuuteen liittyviä kysymyksiä tulisi tutkimuksessa lähestyä ja mikä yleensä ottaen on huomionarvoista tutkimusta (vertaa Hannah 2015).…”

Politically incorrect participatory media: Racist nationalism on r/ImGoingToHellForThis

“…Racist nationalism is an imperfect term because nationalism is not inevitably racist; it can be tool for manifesting belonging in the face of oppression (Skey, 2010) or a banal means for organizing daily life (Billig, 1995). It is also imperfect because r/ImGoingToHellForThis users rarely make explicit claims to any one nation.…”