163
See also: Émile Durkheim 34–37 ■ Paul Gilroy 75 ■ John Urry 162 ■
David Held 170–71 ■ Benedict Anderson 202–03 ■ Michel Maffesoli 291T
he economic, political,
and cultural forces that
globalization brings to
bear have, according to British
sociologist David McCrone,
coincided with a rise in neo-
nationalism, which occurs when a
social group within a nation tries to
redefine its identity. He argues that
all neo-national identities concern
smaller entities within larger
nation-states: for example, Scotland
in the United Kingdom, Catalonia
in Spain, the Basque Country that
straddles southwestern France
and northern Spain, and French-
speaking Quebec in Canada.
Both national and neo-national
identities are forged from the “raw
historical materials” of a common
language, cultural myths and
narratives, and social ideals.
McCrone says that solidarity
comes into being whenever enough
people invoke these raw materials,
or “historical straw,” in pursuit
of a common cause. Moreover,
relatively little historical straw
is required to galvanize neo-
nationalist sentiment; often onlya few symbols are needed to evoke
strong feelings in people, such
as the Senyara flag of Catalonia,
or the fleur-de-lis symbol in
Quebec. Although a sense of
being distinctively different from
the larger state may be the main
factor that prompts calls for more
autonomy or outright independence,
the motivations for neo-nationalist
identities or separatism can differ
widely. They may, for example, be
motivated by perceived unfairness
in taxation or resource allocation. ■LIVING IN A GLOBAL WORLD
NATIONS CAN BE IMAGINED
A N D C O N S T R U C T E D W I T H
RELATIVELY LITTLE
HISTORICAL STRAW
D A V I D MCCRONE
The Basque separatist organization
ETA engaged in political and armed
conflict with the Spanish and French
states from 1959 to 2011, in a quest
for political independence.IN CONTEXT
FOCUS
Neo-nationalism
KEY DATES
1707 The Act of Union is
ratified and the United
Kingdom is officially formed.
1971 British ethnographer
Anthony D. Smith publishes
his highly influential study,
Theories of Nationalism.
1983 British sociologist
Benedict Anderson publishes
Imagined Communities, which
examines the formation of
nationhood.
1998 British sociologist David
McCrone argues in The
Sociology of Nationalism that
nationalism operates as a
vehicle for a variety of social
and economic interests.
2004 Japanese sociologist
Atsuko Ichijo explores the
apparent contradiction of an
“independence in Europe”
policy in Scottish Nationalism
and the Idea of Europe.