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Budapest W1: Nationalism, Gender, Sexuality - Class Notes

All three authors contest the notion that nations/national identities are real/natural/timeless/rooted in truth/biological fact.
Nationalism as formal politics/citizenships/legal identities.

-> Anderson - Nations are imagined
-> Billig - Banal nationalism, unquestioned practices/unseen/everyday
-> Militz - Powerful, affective senses - social, personal place of belonging

-> Anderson: Why does he begin with Marx? Because of the historical context (Stalinist purges), but also refers to the institutions (state) as critical because they produce visions, which is a Marxist analysis - the political effect of print capitalism

Ideology vs. Hegemony (banal nationalism)
Ideology - Formal politics
Hegemony - Sly politics - Anderson wrote that because it was imagined, it was in fact more real and creates a deeper connection with the individual.

Ethnic/Civic nationalism - Nationalism produced to make us think of 'us' and 'them' through sharing a value or opinion.

Nationalism - Print-capitalism + fixed language. Capitalist infrastructure - printing in a single language - reading led to a spread of ideas and connection to imagined community "local" news vs. "international" news - borders are created in the psyche.

-> Billig - Nation becomes greater than individuals
Inclusive and exclusive at the same time
German nationalism as a response to French Enlightenment that envisioned every person becoming a part of the French nation
Material constructs + imaginings are everywhere! Not obvious political shows but instead bumper stickers, flags outside peoples houses, t-shirts with "England" written on the front
Everyday nationalism is preparation/quiet indoctrination so that when the citizens need to be called upon to support their nation, they will do so willingly and with enthusiasm

-> Militz - How nationalism may be socially constructed, it is still real and this is caused through emotion.

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