CFP: "Historical Practices of Civic Nationalisms: Global Comparisons"
In the last two decades, scholars have begun to challenge the typologies that informed nationalism research for much of the twentieth century, and most particularly the binary juxtaposition of civic v. ethnic nationalism. These binary dichotomies, as scholars revealed, were normatively charged: they served to justify nationalisms among “western” nations such as the United States and France but de-legitimizing those of “eastern” nations. Illiberal elements in supposedly “civic” nationalisms were obscured, the liberal aspects of allegedly “ethnic” nationalisms were ignored. In practice, most if not all nationalisms contained both inclusionary/progressive and exclusionary/reactionary features.
Even though binary dichotomies between “civic” (political/western) nationalism versus “ethnic” (cultural/eastern) nationalism have been discredited, the question remains whether the concept of civic nationalism could still serve as a useful analytical category, and if so, how to construct it. Forms of nationalism that integrate several ethnicities into one stable nation do exist, and many formerly homogenous nation-states have become more heterogeneous through significant immigration. How can nations generate social solidarity without conjuring the primordial ties of its members? Are truly civic nationalisms possible? How can they be promoted?
This workshop critically examines the concept of civic nationalism as a potentially useful analytical category in nationalism research, and investigates the historical practices of civic or at least quasi-civic nationalisms from around the globe. Which strategies did multi-ethnic and multi-cultural nation-states pursue in the past to foster national sentiment? Can their example offer useful lessons to contemporary democratic nation-states for successfully integrating immigrant populations? Which processes of “Othering” have characterized civic nationalisms?
The event will take place on 5 June 2016 at the Kelburn Campus of Victoria University in Wellington, New Zealand. Both early-career and established scholars interested in participating in the conference and presenting their research on civic nationalism should send an abstract to Alexander Maxwell (Alexander.Maxwell@vuw.ac.nz) and Jasper Trautsch (jasper.trautsch@geschichte.uni-regensburg.de). We regret that no funding is available to support travel costs. The deadline for the submission of abstracts is 5 May 2016.
Alexander Maxwell (alexander.maxwell@vuw.ac.nz)
Jasper Trautsch (jasper.trautsch@geschichte.uni-regensburg.de)
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