Understanding National Identity

Investigates the concept of 'national identity' based on twenty years of empirical evidence.

David McCrone (Author), Frank Bechhofer (Author)

9781107100381, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 26 March 2015

236 pages, 24 tables
23.5 x 15.6 x 1.7 cm, 0.46 kg

'National identity as opposed to the ideologically driven politics of nationalism or an apolitical patriotism is one of the more recent identity-politics themes. This fine book firmly puts it on the sociological map.' Tariq Modood, Director, University of Bristol Research Centre for the Study of Ethnicity and Citizenship

We live in a world in which being a 'citizen' of a state and being a 'national' are by no means the same. Amidst much scholarly debate about 'nations' and 'nationalism', comparatively little has been written explicitly on 'national identity' and a great deal less is solidly evidence-based. This book focuses on national identity in England and Scotland. Using data collected over twenty years it asks: does national identity really matter to people? How does 'national identity' differ from 'nationality' and having a passport? Are there particular people and places which have ambiguous or contested national identities? What happens if someone makes a claim to a national identity? On what basis do others accept or reject the claim? Does national identity have much internal substance, or is it simply about defending group boundaries? How does national identity relate to politics and constitutional change?

Preface
Introduction
1. Thinking about national identity
2. Accessing national identity
3. National identity: do people care about it?
4. Debatable lands: national identities on the border
5. Claiming national identity
6. The politics of national identity
7. The notional other: ethnicity and national identity
8. A manner of speaking: the end of being British?
9. Whither national identity?
Appendix. National identity publications.

Subject Areas: Sociology [JHB]