Space and identity: constructions of national identities in an age of globalisation

Abstract

This article enquires how notions of national identities are still topical in recent scholarship at a time when processes of globalisation appear to be undermining the nation-state and its territorial power. The so-called spatial turn within the social sciences and humanities has exposed transnational, postcolonial and global aspects of identity constructions beyond the narrow borders of the nation and all things national. Stimulating historical and geographical research into nations and identities, this journal is informed by the same epistemology, tentatively located in postmodern thinking. Despite the prophecies of doom of postmodern enthusiasts, this study testifies to the continued relevance of borders and national attachments, albeit in terms of self-reflexivity.

Nation‐building in contemporary Germany: the strange conversion of Hitler's ‘word made of stone’

“…The present investigation certainly lends further credence to the argument that national identity is by no means on the decline despite processes of political denationalisation and economic globalisation (Ariely ; Rembold and Carrier ). In addition, a doubt is cast on the validity of theories of late‐modern space production that emphasise homogenisation.…”

“…Martin Beckstein Europe or the Documentation Centre in Nuremberg), a partly puzzling, partly moderating and arguably (self-)ironic dimension is added, which distinguishes this case from other recent material manifestations of the post-fascist reconstruction of German identity. The present investigation certainly lends further credence to the argument that national identity is by no means on the decline despite processes of political denationalisation and economic globalisation (Ariely 2012;Rembold and Carrier 2011). In addition, a doubt is cast on the validity of theories of late-modern space production that emphasise homogenisation.…”

National identity and language: students′ usage of English terminology within the Croatian language

“…The variables estimating knowledge are in correlation with the variables of preference in using Croatian terms for males, females and all groups together. Rembold and Carrier (2011), the mid-90s marked the end of the nation-state, which led to a change in notion of national identity and its construction and maintenance. It seems that at that point globalization began to take its place on the global map by going beyond national borders, at the same time challenging and changing the concept of nation and nationhood.…”

Performing the nation between us: urban photographic sets with young migrants

“…Globalisation has led to a re-thinking of the nation and the supposed death of the nation-state has been counterbalanced by the assertions of its paradoxical revitalisation (Rembold & Carrier 2011). In a globalised era, then, the theorisation of the nation has come to be deeply interested in the question of diversity, as nations have always been, but are increasingly constituted by diversity (Schandevyl & Haag 2010).…”

“…Against this background, this article follows recent re-discussion of the opposition between transnational societies and the vitality of national frames (Ehrkamp & Leitner 2006), as well as the rethinking of the idea of nation, prompted by the growing diversity in societies (Schandevyl & Haag 2010;Rembold & Carrier 2011;Antonsich 2015). In particular, this article draws from reflections on how nations are dynamically, daily, and locally experienced and given sense by individuals (Edensor 2002) and how the cultural dimensions of the nation can be practiced as inclusive, flexible and mobile by diasporic and migrant subjects (ToliaKelly 2006).…”