Developing community leadership through the arts in Southside Virginia: Social networks, civic identity and civic change

This paper describes a strategy designed to catalyse a processof civic dialogue and social learning in an economically distressedsection of Virginia typically referred to as Southside or theDan River Region. The model underpinning this initiative employsthe arts and a grassroots leadership programme simultaneouslyto encourage a broad-scale civic conversation concerning thepast and potential future of the principal communities locatedin the Southside region. The combination of broad participationand development of an effective leadership cadre at the grassrootslevel should encourage the creation of robust community problemsolving coalitions across the region. The initiative aims toengender specific forms of locally driven community-based problem-solvingcoalitions: those that emphasize inclusiveness and value thefull participation of historically disenfranchised individuals.The project also employs non-traditional forums to promote creativedialogue and to encourage reflection among the broader citizenryon the significance and possible character of a new and regionalidentity.     

Riotous Citizens: Ethnic Conflict in Multicultural Britain

Forest struggles and movements in India were a part of the rich tradition of anti-colonial struggle. In North Bengal, the recorded history of forest movements dates back to the 1960s and the movements themselves have been continuous ever since. However, despite the sincere efforts of those movements the livelihood opportunities of the forest dwellers worsened daily. The 1972 Wildlife Act together with the 1980 Forest Conservation Act strengthened further the oppressive structure of the forest bureaucracy. After the introduction of the Joint Forest Management Programme in the 1990s backed by the 1988 Forest Policy in India, it was expected that the forest dwellers would become more empowered economically and socially in lieu of their participation in the forest protection activities. But this failed miserably in the region and in 2000, against such a backdrop, a movement was started to demand land and livelihood rights for the forest dwellers. Following the Notification of the Forest Rights Act (2006) the movement has gained a new momentum while continuing its struggle against the biased implementation of the Act. This article presents a brief account of the movement in order to assess its significance and changing focuses over the years.     

Religion and national identity in Greek education

Religion has been an important element in the shaping of collective identities in Europe in the past. In some cases, for example in Southern and Eastern Europe, religious identities have been associated with the emergence of national awareness and nationalism. This paper argues that in many European countries religion continues to be a key component of identity politics, exercised by the state through education. This process is examined with regard to educational policies and knowledge control in the context of the Greek educational system. It is argued that, in Greece, religious instruction extends far beyond the religious education curriculum, a fact that has certain implications for the secularist character of education, for the construction of dominant identities and for social exclusion practices.     

Negotiating civic identity across different political contexts: Immigrant participation in social movements and political incorporation

This article examines the understudied intersection between migration and contentious politics, focusing specifically on immigrant participation in social movements within their host societies. Drawing upon data from the Anti-Extradition Law Amendment Bill (Anti-ELAB) Movement in Hong Kong, it illuminates the process through which Chinese immigrants become politicized, evolve collective identities, and mobilize against civil dominance. Further, it underscores the transformative potential of social movements in facilitating immigrant political incorporation. However, it also recognizes the unilateral acceptance determined by mainstream society, which often leaves immigrants sidelined in discussions regarding their qualifications for unconventional political participation. To address civil inequality, immigrants establish their civil identities, challenge dominance, and amass political capital for future incorporation. This study extends the migration and social movements literature by shedding light on the political dynamics of immigrant participation and the hurdles they encounter during their journey toward political incorporation. It also underscores the significant role of progressive social movements in fostering immigrant political participation. Furthermore, the research highlights the unique immigrant political identity that emerges and evolves through participation in social movements, contesting exclusion and monopolistic dominance over democratic realization.     

Mythscapes: memory,mythology, and national identity

In this paper I seek to challenge the dominant modes of conceiving the relationship between memory and national identity, and in so doing offer analysts of nationalism an improved understanding of the dynamics of national identity formation. The concept of collective memory is invoked regularly in attempts to explain the pervasiveness and power of nationalism. I argue that the concept is misused routinely in this context, and instead I employ a 'social agency' approach to theorizing, whereby memory is conceived in a more limited and cogent manner. I argue that it is important to distinguish clearly between memory and mythology, both of which are essential to understanding national identity, for not only are the two concepts distinct, they can also act in opposition to each other. Following from this I introduce the notion of a 'mythscape', the temporally and spatially extended discursive realm in which the myths of the nation are forged, transmitted, negotiated, and reconstructed constantly. Through employing the idea of a mythscape we can relate memory and mythology to each other in a theoretically profitable way.     

A long way from home: On black identity in Britain

This article sets out to challenge much of the current literature on the self‐identity of blacks in British society. By looking at the long‐term historical background, the colonial heritage of cultural, political and economic oppression, a series of more subtle analyses emerges. Among the stereotypes challenged is that of the generational gap; evidence is cited to indicate a far greater common awareness and identity of aims and attitudes than previous writers have suggested. Hie conclusion examines some strategies for fighting racism within British society.     

Ethnic Mobilization in south Tyrol: A primordial identity in crisis

South Tyrol and the German minority are portrayed as one of the most successful forms of ethnic mobilization in Western Europe. Its distinct historic roots and the related symbolic codes of collective identity formation can be seen as a classical example for territorially‐based minority politics. On the basis of a constructivist approach the thesis is developed that the primordial collective identity, dominant in South Tyrol, has generated very particular patterns of ethnic mobilization and conflict. On the one hand, it has secured the intransigent protest of the German population fighting an enforced Italianization ‘ over decades. On the other hand, however, this firm of collective identity is simultaneously fostering the recent crisis of ethnic politics in South Tyrol. The more general argument is made that in highly modem, European‐oriented society a primordial understanding of ethnic loyalty is no longer able to provide stable patterns of social integration and political loyalty. In this respect, the South Tyrolean case is interpreted as an example of how primordial patterns of collective identity and related political mobilization tend to lose their firm base in highly modern society.     

Nation and empire: English and British national identity in comparative perspective

Theory and Society -     

The potential of dialogues on social identity and diversity for immigrant civic integration

Local governments have become increasingly important in the governance of immigration. The present study evaluates a local government sponsored dialogue on social identity and diversity aimed at promoting the civic integration of immigrant participants. Based on models for community dialogues across cultural differences and on the literature on immigrant civic integration, the researcher designed, implemented and evaluated the dialogue. The evaluation was based on an exit questionnaire completed by participants, observation notes taken by the researcher, and a follow-up interview with the program coordinator. The evaluation suggests that dialogues among newcomers about social identity and diversity that match most of the ideal conditions for positive intergroup contact stated in the literature likely facilitate immigrant civic integration. Participants reported improved feelings of mutual understanding and inclination to collaborate across cultural differences. The findings also indicate that participants developed a capacity to balance appreciation for cultural differences and group identities with proclivity to collaboration across cultural groups.     

The legacy of sport and national identity

The historical connection between media and sport is well established(Rowe,2009).The development of modern sport has been profoundly affected by the various forms of mass communication including newspaper and magazine,video,records,television and Internet.     

War and the contest over national identity

This paper looks at a recent historical moment in which the American national identity was defined and contested in the public arena. The Persian Gulf crisis of 1990‐91 presents a case in point in which official actors attempted to define the American character and in so doing prescribed particular actions necessary to fulfill what it means to be an American confidence. He described Americans as unique in esteemed values and America as the only country capable of leading the world. In so doing, he invited American participation in support for US military intervention. On the other side, the peace movement chose to emphasize American weaknesses, domestic problems, and the gullible nature of the American people. In so doing it attempted to shame Americans into supporting the anti‐war movement.     

Ethnic identity and ethnic boundaries: the Sino-Vietnamese in Victoria, British Columbia

A partir de données amassées en questionnant trente ménages sino-vietnamiens de Victoria, ainsi que leurs parrains, cette étude veut montrer que les approches primor-dialiste et circonstantialiste devraient être combinées, afin de donner une image plus exacte de l'identité ethnique et des frontières de groupe des immigrants en Amérique du Nord. Ce sont des besoins instrumentaux qui expliquent pourquoi les Sino-Vietnamiens ont utilisé divers attributs culturels afin de développer des liens privilégiés avec les Chinois de Victoria et les Vietnamiens d'origine. Par contre, ce sont des besoins émotifs qui expliquent la retention, par les Sino-Vietnamiens, de leurs liens primordiaux et leur dissociation de tous les étrangers qui ne sont pas de la même origine régionale ou ethnique qu'eux.
Using data collected from thirty Sino-Vietnamese households and their sponsors in Victoria, this study suggests that both primordialist and circumstantialist approaches should be combined to give a more accurate picture of ethnic identity and group boundary maintenance among immigrant groups in North America. While instrumental needs best explain why Sino-Vietnamese used various cultural attributes as charters to cultivate links with the local Chinese and the ethnic Vietnamese, emotional needs best explain why the Sino-Vietnamese still retained their former, narrower primordial ties, dissociating themselves on a primary level from all outsiders who were not of the same regional or ethnic origin.     

Ethnic identities and national identities: Some examples from Malaysia

Using examples from Malaysia, this paper emphasizes the importance of relating ethnicity to the power of the state and political processes involving different ethnic groups. Ethnic group formation involves processes that make people identify as an imagined community in a nation‐state. Indeed, the processes that create ethnic and national identities are part and parcel of the same historical processes. It is also necessary to relate national identity to ethnicity, as national identity is imagined differently by different ethnic groups in a nation‐state. The paper describes Malay and Chinese ethnicity as well as the complex ethnic identification and ethnogenesis of the indigenous peoples of Sarawak.     

Islam,national identity and politics in contemporary Kazakhstan

This article argues that, unlike other Central Asian states, the official response in Kazakhstan to its Islamic revival is distinctively ambivalent and even contradictory. The Nazarbayev government has rhetorically embraced the Kazakh qoja-centred Sufi heritage and the Hanafi school of Sunni Islam as the ‘traditional’ forms of Islam among Kazakh nomads and perceived them as constituent elements of the nation-building process. However, the representatives of the political elite have in reality unknowingly absorbed much of ‘untraditional’ Salafi Islam and ignored, marginalised or even suppressed the revival of Kazakh Sufism. This is in part because of their limited knowledge of the indigenous Kazakh Islamic tradition and in part due to the younger generation’s greater exposure to a range of Salafi-dominated influences emanating from abroad. The article begins with a brief historical perspective on the relationship between qoja-centred Sufism and ‘Kazakh-ness’ which is essential for establishing an analysis of the fissures in the current religious and political ideology pertaining to Kazakh nation-building.     

Racial identity attitudes and interracial communication: Implications for social work practice in Britain

This paper is written from a psychological perspective and explores the relationship between black people's stages of racial identity development and interracial communication. It describes Cross's model of psychological nigrescence for black people and Helms's model of white identity development–in which she describes how whites go through the process of defining themselves as racial beings. Since the majority of social workers in Britain are white, it is argued that white identity development and its implication for interracial communication are important aspects to consider. It is argued that one's stage of racial identity may have a stronger impact on the communication process between white social workers and black clients than 'race' per se.     

The markers and rules of Scottish national identity

This article examines how people set about the task of national identity construction and maintenance in the context of a study of landed and arts elites in Scotland. With reference to our empirical material throughout, we outline the key national identity processes: claim, attribution and the receipt of claims and attributions. Central to these are identity markers and rules. Identity markers are those social characteristics presented to others to support a national identity claim and looked to in others, either to attribute national identity, or receive and assess any claims or attributions made. Identity rules are probabilistic rules of thumb, guidelines to how these identity markers are interpreted, combined or given precedence over others within these three processes. Particular attention is given to identity rules, and consideration of the contexts in which they are adhered to or transgressed.     

Political localism and national identity in Italy: The case of regional leagues

Regional leagues in Italy display a rather ambivalent image. On the one hand, they are clear expressions of discontent with relation to the inefficient and impersonal centralized political system. On the other hand, they also express xenophobic prejudices against the Southerners and the new immigrants. The growth of the Lombardian League is a good illustration of these ambivalent and dangerous tendencies.