Sports Events and National Identity

Hey there sports fans,

It didn’t escape the notice of our group that this weekend there were some strange sights to be seen on the streets of Edinburgh. If you too saw an unusual number of men attired in kilts, or people wrapped in French or Scottish flags, then you’ll know what we mean. It was Scotland v. France this weekend in Six Nations Rugby. The Americans also had sport to celebrate this weekend: the National Football League Championship, more commonly known as the Super Bowl, was played Sunday between the Indianapolis Colts and the New Orleans Saints. The AP reported today that 106 Million people tuned in to watch this years Super Bowl, making it the most-watched TV program of all time. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/football/nfl/super-bowl/02/08/ratings.ap/index.html?eref=twitter_feed

This wonderful weekend of sports, with the many national symbols we spotted in both cases, inspired our groups presentation for nationalism this week: exploring American identity through the Super Bowl, and British identity through Six Nations Rugby. We believe there is a very interesting comparison to be made between the two. Both utilize national symbols in a way that reinforces national identity, but we think there is a compelling case that this is done in very different ways. National anthems are an important part of both events.

  

We believe that though national symbols are visible in both displays, they are used to different effect in British rugby games than they are in the Super Bowl. Here we have pictures of rugby fans, as well as fans supporting the Colts and the Saints. Do you see differences in the way the fans demonstrate support their team- particularly in the use, or lack, of national symbols?

It will be our contention that the nature of the Super Bowl reinforces American identity, irregardless of the American cities from which the competing teams originate, with the use of national symbols at the beginning as well as the ritual of coming together to watch the game (and the commercials! To watch this years Super Bowl commercials, always a highlight of Super Bowl Sunday, go to http://www.cbssports.com/video/player/superbowlcommercials). We will argue that the use of national symbols in British rugby matches is more overt and more contentious, and exposes the national fault lines within Great Britain.

As it happens, we’re not the only ones who have been interested in what it means when nations get together to watch these events. Please look here for some academic insight into the national character of Rugby matches http://www.aafla.org/SportsLibrary/FootballStudies/1999/FS0201e.pdf and the ritualistic nature of the Super Bowl http://www.religion-online.org/showarticle.asp?title=1375.

German History Society: Call for panel proposal

I would like to organise a panel for the annual conference of the GHS in Manchester. Possible themes could include e.g.: ‘politics of the past in the FRG’, ‘biography and nationalism in Germany’, or ‘liberal and romantic nationalism in the FRG’. Please let me know if you are interested or if you know any potential participant (christian.wicke@anu.edu.au).

http://www.germanhistorysociety.org/news/conference-2010-panel-proposal.php

Lecture: Florian Bieber, ‘The Ghost in the Machine: The Legacy of Yugoslavia’s National Policy’

An upcoming lecture from the CITSEE Project (CITSEE = The Europeanisation of Citizenship in the Successor States of the Former Yugoslavia) – an ongoing study of “the citizenship regimes” of those states which have emerged from what was Yugoslavia) which may be of considerable interest:

8 February 2010
CITSEE Dialogue

Lecture with Dr. Florian Bieber (University of Kent)

‘The Ghost in the Machine: The Legacy of Yugoslavia’s National Policy’

Conference Room, David Hume Tower, University of Edinburgh 17:00 to 18:30

All are welcome

Dr. Florian Bieber is one of the foremost scholars of the former Yugoslavia and South-eastern Europe. His research interests include institutional design in multiethnic states, nationalism and ethnic conflict, as well as the political systems of South-eastern Europe. He published articles on institutional design, nationalism and politics in South-eastern Europe in Nationalities Papers, Third World Quarterly, Current History, International Journal of Politics, Culture and Society, International Peacekeeping, Ethnopolitics and other journals. He is the author of Nationalism in Serbia from the Death of Tito to the Fall of Miloševi? (Münster: Lit Verlag, 2005, in German) and Post-War Bosnia:
Ethnic Structure, Inequality and Governance of the Public Sector (London: Palgrave, 2005) and edited and co-edited four books on South-eastern Europe.

For more information contact citsee@ed.ac.uk or see http://law.ed.ac.uk/citsee

Australia Day: Australia’s Rising Banal and Official Nationalism

26 January is Australia Day. All “Aussies” I have spoken to agreed that the public celebration of this nationalist event has been only on the rise in the course of the last decade, and that their governments have sought to promote this change. Take a look at the TV ads by the Australian Federal Government and the South Australian Government from the past three years:

(South Australia 2009)

(2008)

(2007)

Togo’s Football Team attacked in Cabinda: Angola’s Forgotten War

Togo’s football team was attacked during the African Cup by the ‘Front for the Liberation of the Enclave of Cabinda (FLEC)’. This article provides some useful background information:

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/war/cabinda.htm

Scotland’s unofficial national bird?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/glasgow_and_west/8387628.stm

Golden eagles in Scotland could get better protection

Golden eagles have come under threat in Scotland

Protection for the golden eagle in Scotland could be increased under proposals announced by ministers.

Over 350,000 hectares of northern and western Scotland have been earmarked as potential Special Protection Areas for the species.

Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) will begin a three-month consultation on the proposals in the new year.

Firms behind a controversial wind farm plan near Inverary in Argyll had called for the move to be put on hold.

Ridge Wind and Wind Prospect, the developers involved in the Stacain wind farm project, have said the creation or further Special Protection Awould sterilise, for years, large areas of Scotland suitable for renewables developments.

The golden eagle prefers the wild countryside of peatlands, uplands and mountains, but is threatened by habitat change and inappropriate development.

There are currently eight Special Protection Areas for golden eagles in northern and western Scotland.

We must find a balance between access, conservation and development to ensure that all sectors can benefit from and enjoy the countryside Roseanna Cunningham MSP Environment Minister

Announcing the six new proposed areas, Environment Minister Roseanna Cunningham said it was important to try and safeguard the bird’s future.

She said: “The golden eagle is the UK’s second largest bird of prey and is a species which is synonymous with many of Scotland’s wildest and most beautiful places.

“Scotland is an internationally important stronghold for this species. But their future is finely balanced due to their need for large, undisturbed spaces in which to live and they remain highly vulnerable to change.

“While we have a duty to protect our biodiversity for future generations, this should not automatically mean that leisure and economic activity cannot take place in our countryside.

She added: “We must find a balance between access, conservation and development to ensure that all sectors can benefit from and enjoy the countryside.”

‘Cultural icon’

The proposed protection areas would be from Glen Affric in the central Highlands to Strathconon in Ross-shire, the Cairngorms Massif, Foinaven at Durness, and Moidart and Ardgour near Fort William.

The fifth would be from Glen Etive near Bridge of Orchy to Glen Fyne near Arrochar, and the sixth would be Jura, Scarba and the Garvellachs off the west coast.

Susan Davies, SNH’s north areas director, said: “We welcome this move by the Scottish government to look at the possibility of more protected areas for Scotland’s golden eagles.

“As a top predator, it is very much a barometer of the health of our natural environment.

“This bird is also a cultural icon and is often what people at home and abroad think of when they think of our country and our wildlife.”

The proposals for further protection were also welcomed by RSPB Scotland.

Director Stuart Housden said: “Golden eagles require large home ranges, which can be affected by land use changes such as poorly-located forestry planting, loss of prey such as rabbits and hares, wind farms and – sadly- continuing persecution.

“The new SPAs will ensure that decision-makers consider the needs of the eagles, and land managers qualify for support from the Scottish Rural Development Plan so that they can continue to look after them.

“This is a great day for Scotland’s unofficial national bird.”

Once the consultation is over, the Scottish government will decide whether to classify any of the suggested zones as Special Protection Areas.

Struggling to speak: Welsh Nationalism

This interesting article is written by a Welsh language nationalist who has been imprisoned and remains in prison for painting Welsh slogans demanding welsh language rights. This article highlights the multiplicity of Nationalism where there is a clear divergence of definition of what it means to be Welsh between local and regional power.

http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/2009/12/03/why-am-i-in-a-cell-instead-of-the-retail-giants-and-bankers-91466-25310176/

Switzerland: a people of tolerant Christians?

- Watch Ulrich Schlüer in an amusing interview:

http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/multimedia/video/detail.html?siteSect=15045&ty=vn&sid=11218918

Chinese nationalism

An interesting report on rising nationalist sentiments in China, especially among younger people,  was heard today on the Radio 4 Today show.  A small sample gives the flavour:

It is the sound of China’s stirring underground. Li Xin and his group Ordinance are at the radical edge of Chinese music. Their latest album, Rock City, has been banned from the airwaves.

The lyrics criticise the government, they tell of democracy, corruption. They say: “Taiwan is ours, Tibet is ours. Compromising with the United States and Japan is a disgrace”.

“Our lyrics are aimed at our government,” says Li Xin.

The piece is written from a perspective of ‘western’ anxiety about these developments, but the phenomenon is none the less real and interesting.  For more go to:

China’s rising nationalism troubles West

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/8363260.stm

On the same page you can find a video clip link in which: “Action hero Jackie Chan has appeared in a TV campaign to boost feelings of Chinese nationalism in Hong Kong.”

 

Greenfeld and Quebec

Liah Greenfeld’s approach to nationalism looks at the processes of modernisation, specifically the construction and reproduction of ideas and symbols as a driving force of nationalism, pinpointing its origins in the economic and democratic development of English society. She argues it is often an elite project which strives to achieve popular sovereignty and equality.  

An interesting case study is Quebec, which was recently recognized by the Canadian government as ‘a nation within a united Canada’.

The area now known as Quebec was first settled by the French and later came under English rule. The Quebec Act of 1774 allowed the French living under the English Empire to practice their religion, speak the French language and implement French Civil Law.

Quebec nationalism has a history almost as long as the province itself, developing in opposition to English Canada and its growing influence and power. The link below provides an interesting background on the development and history of Quebec nationalism.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/parliament39/quebecnation-history.html

Between 1960 and 1966, Quebec underwent a process of modernisation, moving away from its traditional conservative and religious roots to a more open, liberal and secular society. This social and economic transformation, called the Quiet Revolution, sparked the modern nationalist movement in Quebec that has had both violent and political manifestations, as well as calls for a sovereign independent Quebec state.  The attached link provides a good overview of the Quiet Revolution and its impact on Quebec nationalism.

http://faculty.marianopolis.edu/c.belanger/quebechistory/events/quiet.htm

The Quiet Revolution can be seen as an example of a rapid process of modernisation, in which symbols and images of Quebec as a distinct and sovereign nation separate from the rest of Canada were developed and politicised. Elements of Greenfeld’s concepts of ethnic, civic and collective nationalism can be seen within the example of Quebec. Is then the next step, following Greenfeld, the establishment of a popular sovereign state?

In 2006, the Canadian Parliament passed a bill recognizing Quebec as a nation within Canada.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwf44j6sWws&feature=related

What is the significance of this recognition of Quebecers as a nation? Can you have a distinct nation within a state?