National Identity and the Interplay between National Pride and Ethnic Exclusionism: The Exceptional Case of the Czech Republic

Abstract

This article focuses on national identity in post-communist Czech Republic. It empirically analyses attitudes of national pride and ethnic exclusionism and their interrelations in the years 1995 and 2003. Comparative studies dealing with national identity usually refer to the Czech Republic as an exceptional case. By focusing on the Czech case, this study contributes to a better understanding of local variations of concepts such as national pride and ethnic exclusionism. Confirmatory factor analysis is used to establish the multidimensionality of national pride and ethnic exclusionism in the Czech Republic at two time points. The interrelationships between different dimensions of national pride and of ethnic exclusionism are analysed using structural equation modelling. Data are drawn from the International Social Survey Programme National Identity Modules 1995 and 2003. Following empirical results, the paper suggests more valid dimensions for the concepts of national pride and ethnic exclusionism in the distinctive Czech context and discusses their mutual relationships.

Context Matters: Measuring Nationalism in the Countries of the Former Czechoslovakia

“…We should bear in mind this shift of context when we attempt to explain the apparent rise in nationalism observed in Table 2. Contrary to Dražanová (2015) and Latcheva (2010), we do not see Slovak or Czech nationalism as particular or different. We rather say that the tools that are used are particularly unfit for the purpose if they are used in different contexts.…”

“…He proposes a different division-one between political and natio-cultural national pride. Dražanová (2015) inspired by Latcheva (2010) proposes a model for the Czech Republic where nationalism is one of four dimensions of national pride. Coenders and Scheeppers, referring to Adorno et al (1950), avoid using the term national pride and define chauvinism and patriotism as two dimensions of nationalism (Coenders and Scheepers 2003).…”

“…To account for the fact that there is a varying degree of ethnic homogeneity in the Czech and Slovak republics, in both countries we include in our analysis only persons who declare themselves as belonging to the majority. As members of national minorities generally have lower levels of national pride (see Dražanová 2015, Smith 2009) this increases slightly the average level of nationalism in both countries, more notably in Slovakia. The world would be a better place if people from other countries were more like the…”

“…This is generally the case when comparing such culturally and historically embedded concepts as nationalism or national pride. While there have been several attempts to rank various nations participating in international comparative surveys by national pride (Smith and Jarkko 1998, Smith and Kim 2006, Smith 2009), there also has been criticism mentioning the pitfalls of such comparisons (Dražanová 2015, Latcheva 2010).…”

A Sense of National Pride in Central and Eastern Europe Based on Data from EVS and WVS

“…Patriotyzm w tym rozumieniu to również poczucie odpowiedzialności za to, co dzieje się w kraju, i myślenie o ojczyźnie w kategoriach zobowiązania, a także świadomość tego, kim się jest, wierność swoim korzeniom (Primoratz, 2019). Wielu badaczy równocześnie zwraca uwagę, że silne poczucie dumy narodowej może wiązać się z poczuciem wyjątkowości, w tym megalomanii narodowej (Bystroń, 1924), odrębności, niechęci do szeroko rozumianych "innych" i ksenofobią (Hjerm, 1998) czy wręcz sprzyja wykluczaniu etnicznemu (Dražanová, 2015) i postawom nacjonalistycznym (Kosterman, Feshbach, 1989;Feshbach, 1994;Fleiß, Höllinger, Kuzmics, 2009). Dwoistość konsekwencji odczuwania dumy narodowej określa się niekiedy mianem "pozytywnej" i "negatywnej" dumy narodowej (Hjerm, 1998;Hopkins, 2001;Tracy, Robins, 2007;Tracy i in., 2009;Cheng, Tracy, Henrich, 2010).…”