Paper 1 on Nationalism

The key to this assignment is being able to apply the different theoretical perspectives.

First, interview someone about their “national’ identity. This could be a relative, staff member, or a fellow student you want to get to know better. Ask them what they consider their national identity. What does it mean to have this identity? What are some key things that people with this identity share (common values, cultural items, things they “hate”)? Are there ways they don’t think they fit into this identity? How do they learn/come to understand what this identity was and how they fit into it (you might ask specifically about messages from school and family if they don’t bring it up)? Did they ever consider themselves as part of a different identity? If you really don’t want to interview someone, you can write about yourself.

Write a roughly 4-page essay on whether you think Primordialism, Constructivism, Instrumentalism, or Psychological Approaches as elaborated by the authors has the most persuasive explanation for how your interviewee thinks about their identity. As an observer, which author do you think has the best argument for why we have nations and nationalism? In the essay, you must refer to Anderson’s definition of a nation and discuss two of the following: Geertz, Hobsbawm, Volkan, and Laitin; and by discuss I mean quote and thoughtfully reflect on.