Dynamics of National Identity

Media and Societal Factors of What We Are

Jürgen Grimm, Leonie Huddy, Peter Schmidt, Josef Seethaler, Jürgen Grimm, Leonie Huddy, Peter Schmidt, Josef Seethaler

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2016
• ISBN:
  9781317597353
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Sozialwissenschaften
• Subtopic: Soziologie

Globalization, immigration and economic crisis challenge the conceptions of nations, trans-national institutions and post-ethnic societies which are central topics in social sciences' discourses. This book examines in an interdisciplinary and international comparative way structures of national identity which are in conflict with or supporting multi-ethnic diversity and trans-national connectivity. The book's first section seeks to clarify the concepts of national identity, nationalism, patriotism and cosmopolitism and to operationalize them consistently. The next section regards the diversity within national states and the consequences for the management of identity and intra-national integration. The third section focuses on external integration between different nations by searching for the "squaring of the circle" between the bonding with co-patriots and the critical reflection of one's own national perspective in relation to others. The last section explores to what extent and in which ways media use shapes collective identity.

1 Introduction

Jürgen Grimm

Leonie Huddy

Peter Schmidt

Josef Seethaler

DOI: 10.4324/9781315746111-1

The dynamics of national identity have become a topic of increased research interest in Europe following the breakdown of communist societies in and after 1989 (Ther, 2014). Events such as the division of the former Soviet Union into a series of separate states, the dissolution of former Yugoslavia, the separation of Czechoslovakia into two states – the Czech and the Slovak Republics – and the unification of Germany have fueled research on this topic. Furthermore, controversy over the future development of the European Union also raises the topic of national identity of individual member states and the political relevance of a European identity. In other parts of the world, such as the Near East and Africa, there has been increased interest in national identity linked to the persistence of ethnic and religious cleavages. Immigration and migration have increased the political relevance of national identity in many countries and has affected attitudes and societal treatment of minorities (e.g., Semyonov et al., 2006; Ther, 2014). National identity is also linked to attitudes and behavior toward immigrants and refugees worldwide. In addition, the rise of right-wing voting in many European countries has been paired with support for immigration restrictions and raised the specter of immigrants as a source of economic and cultural threat, and is also linked to national identity.

These various developments prompted us to edit a book on the topic of national identity. We aimed to provide a theoretical integration of this interdisciplinary topic, a focus of the chapters in Part I of the volume, and to present a series of theory-driven empirical studies dealing with the dynamics of national identity, a focus of Parts II and III. National identity is investigated in some detail in several different countries, including Austria, Israel, France, Germany, Russia, and Switzerland. In one chapter, 33 countries are analyzed using data from the 2003 International Social Survey Programme (ISSP) national identity module. Authors also derive their conclusions from different populations. Although most chapters employ data from representative population surveys, two deal with young immigrant populations, two use media data, and one compares data from mass and elite surveys.

There are five chapters in the book’s first part, titled “Conceptualizing National Identity”. Two of these lay out a theoretical roadmap that provides the foundation for many of the subsequent chapters. In her chapter “Unifying National Identity Research: Interdisciplinary Perspectives”, Leonie Huddy uses social identity theory (SIT), developed by the social psychologists Henri Tajfel (1982) and John Turner (Turner, Hogg, Oakes, Reicher, & Wetherell, 1987), as a general theoretical basis to distinguish among various conceptions of national attachments such as nationalism, patriotism, and national identity found in political science and sociology. As nationalism, patriotism, and national identity are special cases of attachments to any group, the theory can be used as a general theoretical paradigm to deduce propositions about the effects of membership of ingroups (nationalism, patriotism, and national identity) on attitudes toward outgroups.

Sonia Roccas and Avihay Berlin have another goal in Chapter 3, “Identification with Groups and National Identity: Applying Multidimensional Models of Group Identification to National Identification”. They compare three different theoretical approaches to the study of national identification and identity: first, a tripartite model of social identity theory (Tajfel & Turner, 1986), which consists of a cognitive dimension (knowledge of membership), an evaluative dimension (value attached to membership), and an affective dimension (emotion attached to membership) (Tajfel, 1982); second, a multicomponent model developed by Leach et al. (2008) and consisting of five dimensions (solidarity, satisfaction, centrality, individual self-stereotyping, and ingroup homogeneity); and, third, the CIDS model developed by Roccas, Sagiv, Schwartz, Halevy, and Eidelson (2008). The last model contains four dimensions: commitment, importance, deference, and superiority.

The following three chapters in the book’s first part provide detailed empirical analyses of the different concepts. In Chapter 4, Horst-Alfred Heinrich looks in detail at the interrelationships among national identification, nationalism, and patriotism using a representative study of the German population. Past research has assumed that such responses were interrelated. Heinrich uses latent class analysis to test how many dimensions exist. Given this information, he studies systematically the relationships among nationalism, patriotism, and anti-foreigner sentiments using multi-group structural equation models and finds considerable “Dimensional Differences between Nationalism and Patriotism” (as the title of the chapter denotes).

Oshrat Hochman, Rebeca Raijman, and Peter Schmidt expand research on national identity to a comparison of two countries. In their chapter, “National Identity and Exclusion of Non-ethnic Migrants: Germany and Israel in a Comparative Perspective”, the authors report on the relation between ethnic and civic conceptions of citizenship, perceptions of socio-economic threat, and exclusionary attitudes to non-ethnic immigrants in the two countries. This comparison allows the authors to evaluate the different ways in which ethnic and civic national identity influences attitudes toward non-ethnic migrants. They draw on data from the identity module of the 2003 ISSP.

In Chapter 6, Marharyta Fabrykant and Vladimir Magun discuss “Grounded and Normative Dimensions of National Pride in Comparative Perspective”. They analyze pride, a major dimension of national identity, in 33 countries using a multilevel analysis with data also drawn from the 2003 ISSP national identity module. The authors contrast automatic (or peripheral) and deliberate (or central) forms of cognitive information processing to characterize two different ways (normative and grounded) in which national pride develops. As individual-level predictors they use demographic variables such as age, marital status, educational level, and subjective social status; country-level variables include GDP per capita and the Human Development Index (HDI). Religiosity was measured at both levels.

Part II deals with “National Identity, Multi-Cultural Societies, and Supra-National Integration”. The first chapter in this part, authored by Karl-Dieter Opp, is titled “Exit, Voice and the Impact of Regional, National and European Identification: An Integration and Empirical Test of Albert Hirschman’s Theory and the Theory of Collective Action”. Opp draws on these two theories to answer the following two questions: To what extent does European, national, and local identity along with other factors have an impact on protesting, moving, or doing nothing in the face of a changing local context. Both theories are based on the same general action theory. He integrates the two theories and tests them with a three-wave panel study of 1,153 respondents from Leipzig and a district in Saxony. One of Opp’s major conclusions is that migration incentives but not protest incentives affect the intention to move residence. Furthermore, he finds that migration incentives do not affect protest activity. Finally, his findings suggest that a higher level of identification (i.e., European identification) might neutralize lower levels of identification (i.e., national identification).

The next two chapters in Part II discuss immigrant populations and the ambivalence they confront in deciding whether or not to adopt a collective identity. Rossalina Latcheva and Barbara Herzog-Punzenberger, in Chapter 8, “Perceived Discrimination, Modes of Collective Belonging and Self-Esteem among Descendants of Immigrants in Austria and Germany”, examine whether perceived discrimination empirically influences immigrant self-esteem, feelings of national belonging, and societal cohesion in four large towns in Austria and Germany. The data are drawn from the cross-sectional survey “The Integration of the European Second Generation” (TIES). The findings show that perceived discrimination has long-term effects on social cohesion among ethnically diverse EU societies such as those in Austria and Germany.

In Chapter 9, titled “Social-Cultural Milieus and National Identification of Second Generation Migrant Youth in Austria”, Hilde Weiss discusses two different and controversial approaches to immigrant integration: assimilation and multiculturalism. Her main goal is to identify the relevant conditions for the development of positive emotional bonds among second-generation immigrant youth in Austria. The data are drawn from a cross-sectional study of 1,000 immigrant youth (aged 15 to 25 years) living in Vienna or in one of four Austrian regions with parents from Turkey, the former Yugoslavia, or other countries. In addition, she collected data from a matched sample of similarly aged Austrians whose parents were both born in Austria. To predict identification, she used demographic variables and cultural customs of the parents and the interviewees in addition to questions about religious attachment, social networks, and type of media consumption.

Oriane Sarrasin, Eva G. T. Green, and Nicole Fasel examine data from the Swiss Sample (N = 945) of the 2007 World Value Study (WVS) in their chapter on “Critical Views of the Nation, National Attachment, and Attitudes toward Immigration in Switzerland”. They study in detail the role of political ideology, national attachment (constructive and blind patriotism), and perceived threat on attitudes toward immigration. One important insight of this study is that a progressive political ideology as expressed through critical views against national authorities only foster inclusive attitudes toward immigration when immigrants were not seen to threaten the nation.

Lusine K. Grigoryan’s chapter, titled “National Identity and Anti-Immigrant Attitudes: The Case of Russia”, notes that it is odd that Russians are more negative toward people of the Caucasus region, most of which belongs to Russia, than other immigrants. In the first two sections of her chapter she tests the dimensional structure of national identity in Russia and draws on this to construct scales. She then focuses on the empirical relationship between national identity and attitudes toward foreigners. In the last section of the chapter she deals with the underlying mechanisms that connect specific forms of national identity to anti-immigrant attitudes. Her data is drawn from a cross-sectional survey conducted in four Russian regions with a total sample size of 859.

Georg Datler’s chapter, titled “European Identity as a Safeguard against Xenophobia? A Differentiated View Based on Identity Content”, aims to clarify the concept of European identity and develop a new analytical framework. He uses a novel statistical technique – the latent class factor model – to test empirically the postulated relationships using Eurobarometer data from 2009 comprising 26,830 cases. In his empirical analysis he finds that the European Union can be understood in five distinct ways. These five different types of identity content moderate considerably the strength of association between European identity and attitudes toward foreigners. He concludes that identity content and meaning matters politically. If the image of the European Union is one of openness and freedom, identification with Europe conveys tolerance. However, if the European Union is mainly seen as a form of social democracy or has a negative image, this relationship is much weaker.

Bettina Westle bases Chapter 13, “National and European Identity: A Comparison between Elites and Populations”, on a systematic overview of the literature dealing with the concepts of national and European identity, especially in political science. Her main contribution is the empirical comparison of the attitudes of the economic and political elites and the general population in 15 selected West and East European countries. The data are from the IntUne (Integrated and United? A Question for Citizenship in an “Ever Closer Europe”) project and were collected in 2007. The comparisons between elites and populations are done in regard to the following four aspects: (1) the intensity of and the links between attachment to one’s own country and to Europe; (2) the meanings that are associated with national and European identity; (3) the links between national and European attachment on the one hand and the meanings attributed to the belonging on the other hand; and (4) the consequences that different aspects of identification have on support for European unification. One major outcome of her study is that the oft-claimed gap between political elites as pioneers of Europeanization and the general population as lagging far behind is less pronounced than often argued.

The topic of the third part of the book is “Media and National Identity”. In her contribution, Chapter 14, Christiane Grill deals with “Historical Communication and Its Influence on National and Ethnic Identity in Russia”. The goal of her study is to understand how media content, which reflects nationally relevant historical events, may shape the conception of Russian national identity among Russians of diverse ethnic backgrounds (following the collapse of the Soviet Union). The empirical base of her study is formed by a survey of 186 persons in 2012 and an additional experimental pre-post study with four groups and a total sample size of 112 persons. As experimental stimuli, four different versions of a Holocaust documentary were used. The study is part of an international comparative project “Broadcasting of History in the Transnational Space”, which analyzes the effects of the cinematic representation of National Socialism and World War II on viewers. A major finding of the survey has been that ethnic Russians differ significantly in their levels of patriotism and nationalism from non-ethnic Russians as well as in the amount of identification with the Russian state. The outcome of the experiment showed that the Holocaust documentary Night and Fog strongly pushes cosmopolitan views.

Bernadette Kneidinger-Müller asks, in her contribution “Geopolitical Identity 2.0: The Significance of Regional, National, and Transnational Roots on Social Networking Sites”, whether the users of a social networking site like Facebook can be regarded as global citizens or whether national or regional roots still remain important. After a detailed review of the role of globalization, localization, and national and regional identity, she addresses three research questions on the basis of an online survey of Austrian online users with a sample size of 638 and a content analysis of Austria-specific Facebook pages: (1) What are the geopolitical orientations of Austrian Internet users? (2) How can Facebook patterns be seen as indicators for individual geopolitical orientations? (3) How is national identity constructed on Facebook? One of the major results of the study is that Austrian Facebook users do not necessarily reflect a transnational level in their individual identity.

Philipp Müller addresses, from a theoretical point of view, the topic of “National Identity Building as a Mediated Process: A Two-Level Model of Its Functions and Dysfunctions” in Chapter 16. After a detailed discussion of the state of the art in ingroup favoritism and outgroup rejection and its connection with nationalism, patriotism, and national identity, he argues that for an adequate conceptualization of media effects, the “bathtub” macro–micro–macro model of Coleman is necessary. His formulation of such a model as a mediated process contains seven subsequent steps along a time axis and is visualized in Figure 16.1. This model is a guideline for the adequate planning of future studies dealing with media effects in identity-building processes.

Claudia Wiesner’s contribution, Chapter 17, deals with the “French EU Referendum Discourse in 2005: How Is Mediated Discourse Linked to Voting Intentions, Voting Behavior, and Support”? Her chapter is based on a detailed discourse analysis of media articles during the EU referendum in France in 2005. As a database she uses articles in French and German newspapers in the first half of 2005. More specifically, she has analyzed all articles published between January and June 2005 in four national newspapers in France and Germany. Her direction of arguments runs from the media discourse to the results of opinion polls carried out during the referendum campaign and after the vote, using a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods. Regarding the relations between media discourse and the construction of voting intentions, voting behavior, and diffuse and specific support, 14 hypotheses are discussed.

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