Citizenship and national identities are central elements of political systems. They account for the political link, i.e. for the relationship between the citizens as well as between citizens and rulers. Citizenship is often analyzed through the notions of rights and obligations (Walzer 1989). As Jean Leca pointed out, these rights and obligations are not only a matter of status, of legal rules(Leca 1983). They also encompass a set of values or moral qualities as well as a series of social roles. The relationship between rules, values and roles is not straightforward. Civic values and the distinction between citizens' and private roles are part of the political culture of a country. The legal regulation of membership, rights and obligations is also supposed to reflect this political culture, but it may be influenced by external sources of constraint, such as supranational integration. Moreover, a political culture is not an homogeneous set of values shared by all members of a political community. It is an evolving but persistent configuration of competing ideologies inherited from the main political struggles that the national community has gone through. The notion of national identity is embedded in the political culture. In the fullest sense of the term, a national identity is a complex pattern of meanings and values related to the group whose borders are defined by the state's capacity to intervene. Any change in the regulation of the group may be interpreted as a consequence as well as a cause of some change in national identity (.).
Paper presented at the Fifth IPSA Symposium, 'Globalisation, Nations and Multi-level Governance: Strategies and Challenges', International Political Science Association, Montréal 24-26 October, 2002. Published in: G. Lachapelle and S. Paquin, eds., Mastering Globalization: New Sub-States' Governance and Strategies, 127-140, New York: Routledge, 2005. ; Social impacts associated with new telecommunication innovations greatly affect both globalisation and territorial identities. Apparently contradictory trends bring with them elements of rapid social change and political uncertainty. This chapter reflects on the conjunction of both dimensions of the local and the global, and carries out a prescription of the progressive consolidation of a new cosmopolitan localism. A theoretical review of the concept of multiple identities precedes a subsequent discussion on the effects of globalisation, the extension of market values, and the relative loss of power by the nation states. Subsequently, the focus is set on the growing role played by the global mesocommunities. These can be small nation-states within regional supranational blocks, stateless minority nations, sub-state regions and large conurbations, and seem to be better equipped to maximise developments related to global action and local identities. References made to the European Union context seek to illustrate how the interaction of the processes of bottom-up transnationalisation and top-down devolution of powers have made possible a more effective access of civil society to multi-level decision-making. The new cosmopolitan localism translates into a growing adjustment between the particular and the general in the gradual development of Europeanisation. ; Peer reviewed
The book encompasses the physical or paper forms of identity, together with the benefits and pitfalls of Aadhaar - a multimillion biometrics enabled UID project of the Government of India. Taking into account the central, federated and self-sovereign models of digital identity, the self-sovereign model has been explained, in detail, for identification and access management leveraging blockchain technology.
Defence date: 24 November 2017; Examining Board: Professor Martin Kohli, European University Institute, Florence, Italy (EUI Supervisor); Professor Donatella della Porta, Scuola Normale Superiore, Florence, Italy; Professor Adrian Favell, University of Leeds, United Kingdom; Doctor Sophie Duchesne, Nanterre University, Paris, France. ; This study takes an interpretative approach to the question of European identity. Based on 95 mixed-type interviews in three country cases (Estonia, Italy, and the Netherlands), it aims to answer the question what 'Europe' means to different groups of people (in a maximum variation sample), and how those meanings relate to their identities, their imagined geographies, and to political institutions and political narrative. The methodological approach centres around qualitative, semi-structured, and in-depth interviews of around two hours each. Within that, certain visual methods (photo elicitation and map drawing) are employed in order to develop a better understanding of meanings associated with Europe from the perspective of the interviewee. After that, a short questionnaire including a social network name generator was given to the interviewee. This study is presented as a methodological 'experiment' that attempts to explore alternative empirical avenues for approaching this subject, and what this means for its analysis and presentation. The analysis centres around three core themes: (i) a typology of perspectives on Europe, (ii) the imagined geographies within Europe, and (iii) the interplay between meanings of Europe and meanings of the EU. The first empirical chapter employs a typology approach to distinguish between three main types of narratives on Europe: Nationals, Situational Europeans, and Cosmopolitan Europeans. These three main types are further disentangled to ultimately range from cisnational to the European cosmopolitan tribe. The second empirical chapter draws on the data that was gathered by having interviewees express their views visually on a blank map of Europe, and examines the various Euroscapes that result from that analysis. Finally, the third empirical chapter looks at the relationship between meanings of 'Europe' and the EU. In doing so, it examines what Euroscepticism means in that context, and how political discourse may affect these meanings. In addition, it considers some of the ways in which European identity is measured in large-scale surveys, and how interviewees interpret such questions.
Brazil has had a distinctive definition of national and racial identity, and it has changed considerably over time, and at each time held out different possibilities for social mobility and citizenship. This paper traces changing relationship between black identities and citizenship through four periods in Brazilian history: abolition, black protests in the 1930s, postwar re- democratization and the democratic movement against the military dictatorship in the 1970s. It emphasizes how the complex intersection of nation, social relations, class and race has had profound effects on not only the categories used to label people, but also on the nuanced definition of the goal of efforts to overcome inequality.
The historical and contemporary development of certain informal and formal articulations of Muslim social and political identities and forms of association in Muslim-majority and Arab societies has facilitated the emergence of a public sphere and limited the coercive power of state authority. This article suggests how a greater focus on religious ideas and forms of association can enhance the concept of the public sphere so that it better accounts for developments in these societies and in European societies themselves. ; Peer Reviewed
The present publication complements the volume "Slavic Alphabets in Contact" (BABEL 7, 2015), compiled by the same editors. This volume, comprised of eleven contributions, focuses on problems of ethnic, cultural, linguistic and political identities among the Slavs resp. in their countries as a result of using a specific script – Latin, Cyrillic and Glagolitic. The papers are published in German, English, and Russian.
Monumental dispersals caused by the phenomenon of migration greatly affect the identities of people. Much like the process of globalization, migration is highly sexualized and gendered. To this extent, it is necessary to centralize women and their peculiar experiences in migration discourses and theories. Beyond the usual focus on the economics, politics and sociology of migration, which at any rate do not often adequately address gender-specific migratory experiences; this study takes a literary route that considers the fictional representations of migrant women in two of the novels of Chika Unigwe: The Phoenix (2005) and On Black Sisters' Street (2008). The focus here is to underscore the validity and significance of gender as an imperative analytical premise in contemporary literary debates particularly by African migrants. In demonstrating how the inflections of gender portend different outcomes for men and women, the study significantly uncovers how the woman's body is simultaneously the site of physical and symbolic migration. The essay traces the movement in transition and the impact of these and new environment on the bodies of female migrants and how the embodied motifs of migration ultimately alter the identities and realities of migrant African women in particular. In all, the essay hopes to expand some of the current theorizations on the new directions in the development of the fictional representations of Nigerian women as well as to contextualize the role of the émigré author in these developments.
This research addresses the chaotic violence plaguing Syria, which has culminated from past violence and oppression, and the war's affect on the transnational identities of married first-generation Syrian-Americans living in America. As Bradatan et al. note, transnational identity is fitting for the postmodern idea of fluid identity that attempts to avoid the assumption that belonging to one group implies exclusion from other groups; as a result, the transnational individual embodies the split between state-imposed identity and personal identity, which is caused by political upheavals and propagates migration. By interviewing first-generation Syrian-American spouses, insight on the liminality between Western media coverage and Syrian legendry has been revealed through the participants' dynamic, multimodal acculturation of the English and Western media with the Arabic and Syrian legendry. The objective was that the participants frame the discourse with their respective spouses so that acculturation and code-switching came about naturally within their kitchen table conversation. This approach was intended to give support to the Syrians affected, by giving them the authority to frame and develop the discourse with one another within their homes. I followed a discourse-historical approach in analyzing the data provided by the participants, and this data shaped the historical background and further analyses.
Previous psychological research has pathologized transgendered people. Reconceptualizing gender from a postmodern perspective and theory and research from within the transgender community leads to a very different view of gender and transgender identities. However, the transgender community's thoughts on this reconstruction of gender has been mostly unexplored. Therefore, I engaged 17 male-born and one female-born members of southwestern Ontario's transgender community in a dialogue. We spoke about how they understand gender, came to know their transgenderness, and tell the story of their gender. Then, I analyzed the interviews using a four part coding strategy focused on direct responses to specific issues, common patterns and metaphors across participant accounts, different positions amongst all respondents, and the functions of these accounts. On the question of the nature of gender, participants were split between integrationist or social constructionist views of gender. Moreover, most participants agreed that society supports a dichotomous view of sex and gender, but the majority of this sample did not see their own gender this way. They stressed the complexity, diversity, and plurality of gender categories, transcending gender dichotomization by personalizing and individualizing gender expressions. In addition, most participants disrupted the standard sex/gender semiotic code: some agreed that gender signified sex, but privileged gender over sex and switched from one code system to another; others privileged sex over gender, but disrupted the assumptions of gender signifying sex or presented mixed signifiers. With respect to knowing their gender, participants came to know their transgenderedness through a variety of experiences: cross-dressing, explorations of their own sexuality, gendered positioning by others, and connecting with others in the transgendered community. Communication, information, and medical technologies also played a significant role in respondents' self-knowledge, but a majority of informants were critical of these technologies and the effects they have on transgender subjectivities. Most participants chose to identify as transgendered and not to edit their biography. Those who did change the story they told others did so mostly to ensure safe and respectful responses from others. Also, the majority of respondents' narratives were innovative in both form and content. Their life stories differed from other, more traditional, life stories. Moreover, most respondents saw the development of their gender identity as a life-long task. Their concerns for the future centered on developing relationships with others, political action and education, and optimism about the future of the transgender community. A discussion of these results suggests that informant positions on the nature of gender, knowing transgenderedness, and gender narratives serve previously unexplored personal, political, and moral functions. Moreover, I contend that in order to adequately respect transgender knowledges and subjectivities, psychologists must alter both their theories of gender and transgender identities and methods. To better respect the diversity of gender experiences in our society, psychologists must reconceptualize sex and gender. One of the more promising ways to re-examine the fundamental assumptions underlying traditional psychological gender theory and research is to actively involve people previously marginalized by sex and gender theory, such as those who identify as transgendered, in the research process.Dept. of Psychology. Paper copy at Leddy Library: Theses & Major Papers - Basement, West Bldg. / Call Number: Thesis1997 .H545. Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 59-08, Section: B, page: 4537. Adviser: Henry Minton. Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Windsor (Canada), 1997.
The historic lack of diversity in autism scholarship has affected the way we teach and learn about autistic identities and knowledge across disciplines and spaces. As more autistic authors fight for visibility and representation in social and academic platforms, there remains a dearth of scholarship regarding postcolonial and/or transnational autistic experiences. This is despite the rich discourse prevalent in online communities accessed by autistic users around the world. This paper explores the use of digital discourse analysis to disrupt the academic ghost authorship of autism, which often erases (or evades) intersecting issues of race, language, and nationality in the negotiation of autistic knowledge and identities. Scholars who study or collaborate with online communities can investigate the ways this knowledge is constructed across cultural and political borders, thereby holding space for underrepresented autistic perspectives.
In the tumultuous opening decade of the twenty-first century, the debate over which legal regime should be applied to armed groups leaped from its historical position in the pages of military manuals and academic journals to the front pages of leading newspapers and cable news services. As the violence by armed groups metastasizes and takes on new and ever-more-virulent forms, the legal system and its practitioners have struggled to keep up. There is every reason to believe that the United States is approaching a tipping point on the matter, and will soon be compelled to give the legal regime as much attention as has been given to strategies and policies for responding to the threats. National security and defense strategists have long referred to the "spectrum of conflict," which stretches from low-level crime or civil disturbances in an otherwise "peaceful" situation at one end to unrestricted war between states at the other. Bookstores and leading journals are increasingly filled with dark and disturbing assessments documenting the emergence of a "new generation" of warfare operating in the middle of the spectrum—one characterized by strategies and tactics that blur the distinction between combatants and civilians, and that are often deployed in densely populated urban centers where avoiding collateral injury or damage to civilians and civilian objects is particularly difficult, and one that has now spread throughout what has been labeled the "arc of instability," with deadly forays into New York, Bali, Madrid, and London. The proponents and perpetrators of this new generation of warfare, which some believe now represents the dominant warfare paradigm, and which might soon be utterly transformed by the addition of weapons of mass destruction, pose a daunting challenge to our existing legal regime. We find ourselves with a legal regime for large-scale violence that is seen by some as binary and yet, ironically, complete. On the one hand, we have a "warfare" paradigm for formal belligerencies and insurgencies, ...
Citizens and Groups in Contemporary China began with two symposia held in 1977 and 1978. The first, a workshop on "The Pursuit of Interest in China," was held in August 1977 at the University of Michigan, and was organized by Michel Oksenberg and Richard Baum. It was supported by a grant from the Joint Committee on Contemporary China of the Social Science Research Council and the American Council of Learned Societies, using funds provided by the Andrew Mellon Foundation. Its principal goal was to use detailed case studies to explore the relevance of interest group approaches to the study of Chinese politics. The second, a panel organized by the editor for the 1978 Chicago meeting of the Association of Asian Studies, sought to apply participatory approaches to the role of social groups in the Chinese political process. The striking degree of overlap in the focus, methodology, and participants in both meetings suggested to a number of the paper writers that there was a need for a more eclectic approach which would focus simultaneously on individual and group actors. The recognition that a volume based on such an approach might serve the needs of students and scholars seeking to examine the dynamics of informal influence and power in China was the stimulus for publishing the studies presented here in book form.
Statistics, generated by censuses, represent knowledge of society and environment used in the government of complex hierarchical societies. In this article we discuss the changing ways that censuses have reflected and constructed corporeal and cultural difference in Mexico. We show that shifts in conceptualizing and identifying racial and ethnic groups in Mexico are associated with larger social dynamics, and our history of these determinations is organized according to a series of periods—colonial, mercantile; Porfirian; revolutionary; and neoliberal—that chart changes in political economy as well as shifts in census categories and statistical tools. Second, we point out a shift in the representational technologies of statistics from encyclopedic forms to enumerative forms that occurred in Mexico in the last decades of the nineteenth century. We trace categories of difference across the transition from encyclopedic to enumerative statistics and also describe a shifting balance in the content of those categories among linguistic, cultural and corporeal qualities.
