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Examines symbolic ethnic politics: the politics of place names, group names, national symbols, official apologies, and other matters that do not affect the rights or resources of any particular persons. Such symbolism is important in ethnic politics, and a theory with nothing to say about it is unsatisfactory. Disputes over symbolic issues, however, are poorly suited to compromise and easily escalate into rallying points for wider conflicts. In addition, it is often impossible to meet the symbolic demands of all groups simultaneously. The chief constraint on symbolic politics should be non‐humiliation and the avoidance of the celebration of past injustices and violence, a standard that can be met for all groups simultaneously. Official apologies in particular are considered at length; they are defended against the charges of collective guilt and anachronism, but are found to be limited by considerations including the passage of time and institutional discontinuities.

This chapter attempts to unravel the different strands and levels of motivation and interest that were historically brought together into a powerful collective representation. It represents an effort to analyze a national master symbol as a manifold of heterogeneous referents drawn from various traditions of ethnicity, class, and region and combined into a multifunctional unity through intersecting signs. A symbol is encountered that seems to enshrine the major hopes and aspirations of an entire society. The Virgin of Guadalupe, Mexico's patron saint, represents such a master symbol. Cultural forms provide the cultural idiom of behavior and ideal representations through which different groups in a society can pursue and manipulate their different fates within a coordinated framework. The Guadalupe symbol links together family, politics, and religion; colonial past and independent present; Indian and Mexican. It reflects the salient social relationships of Mexican life and embodies the emotions they generate.

This chapter argues that the ambiguities of national symbols, particularly when read through a gendered analysis, function to challenge the regime’s national narrative and its efforts to be authoritative. Schools are critical in this respect, both as a stage for regime-sponsored performances of its narrative and displays of state power and, paradoxically, as a space for the diffusion and potential weakening of the terms of the state discourse. In the labor of implementing state-mandated patriotic performances and rituals, representatives of the state, particularly, local bureaucrats and state educators, at times highlight the tenuous nature of their symbolic content and open the door for resistance to the intended meanings. Gender roles and the status of women continue to be integral to constructions of national and religious authenticity, while the development of women simultaneously stands as a marker of the nation’s progress.

From the late 1960s to the late 1980s, few studies have focused on American national consciousness and national identity as intellectual and cultural historians avoided the problem of nationalism. Historians interested in reopening the national question in America can learn a lot from a comparative perspective that draws on the history of Germany, eastern Europe, and the Third World. For example, Hans Kohn described the contrast between nationalism in western Europe on the one hand and in central and eastern Europe on the other. This chapter examines the national symbols employed by Americans to personify their country, from the Statue of Liberty to Uncle Sam. It also discusses four requirements of nationality: place, principles, polity, and people.

This chapter examines the history of and devotion to La Caridad del Cobre in Cuba. It analyses her story to explore Cuban/Cuban-American identity and to construct a Cuban/Cuban-American Mariology describes La Caridad's appearance in the early seventeenth century. It investigates how the image and narrative of La Caridad have functioned throughout Cuban history and explains how La Caridad grew to become a national symbol and devotion in Cuba.

This chapter explores the ways in which the nation constructs itself in relation to Jews, and how Jews actively participate in this historical revision. The recognition of the small population is mutually strategic as well as corrective: for Brazilian society, it is one example of a larger project to recast contemporary Brazil as a modern, multicultural nation. For Brazilian Jews, this rewriting of Brazilian history and the re-inscription of the landscape to reflect their presence serve to powerfully transmit the memory of their participation—acts that are infused with the hope of securing a place in the nation and confirming a sense of belonging.

The short Second Balkan War and the subsequent Ottoman territorial gains (including the city of Edirne) enabled Ottoman politicians and publicists to perceive the regeneration of the nation as a project in realization that had yielded its first fruits of victory. It allowed the Ottoman army and the CUP government to claim military victory and expertise and thus to attempt to rehabilitate their reputation. Chapter 6 examines the ways in which Edirne, probably the most outstanding national icon of the Balkan Wars, became the focal point of Ottoman commemoration of the Balkan Wars and of the official celebrations that accompanied the reestablishment of Ottoman rule there. By exploring the celebrations and their messages, the chapter discusses the Ottoman shaping of national symbols and a national calendar and their contribution to the reconstruction of the nation’s boundaries and ethos.

This book explores the changing contours of American culture based on the work of John Higham, one of America's foremost historians. Higham undertook case studies that focus on American diversity as well as the ideas and habits that have bound Americans as one people. The chapters in this book tackle a wide range of topics such as national symbols, race relations, and the bureaucratization of society. Spanning three centuries, the book moves from European images of the New World in the colonial era to the debate over multiculturalism in the 1990s. It examines how a dynamic national culture has caused divergent ethnic, class, and ideological groups to “hang together” as Americans. Despite tendencies toward a divisive pluralism, Higham argues that there is a common American culture. The book also discusses aspects of the “culture wars” that persisted until the close of the twentieth century.

This chapter focuses on kimchi consumption in modern South Korea, suggesting that a deep sense of national anxiety about globalization undergirds kimchi's prominence as a national symbol in a country traumatized by colonization, war, division, and rapid industrialization and urbanization. It analyzes two incidents dubbed the “Kimchi Wars” by the Korean press: the kimchi/kimuchi conflict with Japan in 2004 and the uproar over imported Chinese kimchi in the fall of 2005. The experience of these two “wars” brought home to South Koreans the enormously complex and often arbitrary relationship between national identity and authenticity, particularly when the forces of globalized production and distribution are literally and figuratively invested in a recognized cultural tradition.

Father Miguel Hidalgo famously adopted the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe as the banner for the insurrectionary movement that led to Mexican independence. Following independence, Guadalupe’s strong association with national identity led interpreters to emphasize that her appearance established a singular election of Mexico as her chosen nation. Guadalupan preachers addressed a variety of national concerns through allusions to biblical notions of covenant, avowing that Guadalupe had established a pact with the Mexican people in similar fashion to God’s covenants with Noah, David, and especially Moses and the people of Israel. Nineteenth-century Guadalupan preachers addressed the theme of covenant as Mexicans won their independence, struggled to establish a new nation, and mounted a successful campaign for papal authorization of an 1895 Guadalupe coronation. This chapter examines their theological claims, the growing devotion to Guadalupe as Mexico’s national symbol, and the unprecedented increase in devotion to Guadalupe among native peoples.

The panda did not become an official symbol of the PRC in a debate over worthy animal emblems, but emerged as a representation of China in various contexts by fulfilling specific needs of the nation. The giant panda became broadly relevant to human society when it was deemed a scientifically interesting animal. International research on pandas has probed most every aspect of the animal’s being. The Chinese government’s persistent endorsement of wide-ranging scientific work on the giant panda over the course of PRC history reflects the tremendous value the Chinese state has placed on the panda as an animal. What is most striking about the giant panda historically is not its curiosity as an oddity in the animal kingdom, but that it stands apart as a cute national symbol. Unlike the more commonly majestic and intimidating choices of eagle or lion, the panda elicits affection. The panda’s gentle allure has been central to its transformation into a powerful political tool. The traits that inspire anthropomorphism have enabled the panda to hold a special position as a diplomat, not only between China and the rest of the world, but also between the human and animal world.

With the benefit of scientific studies, popular media, and zoo displays, this chapter traces the transformation of the giant panda from an unknown animal to a national treasure. Prior to the twentieth century the giant panda was virtually absent from or forgotten in Chinese historic cultural artifacts. China’s general populace did not take a strong interest in the giant panda until after 1949. An upsurge of scientific studies on the giant panda unveiled numerous curiosities about the panda that aroused both domestic and international interest. Because of its biological peculiarities, the panda was used as a tool for teaching communist citizens scientific thought. Although the panda was first introduced to the public through science, its attractive and unique appearance inspired adoration. Increasingly the general populace was not only intrigued by the panda, but began to embrace it as a popular symbol of the nation.

This chapter focuses on the Pūjā committees and celebrations of the American diaspora and the transformations occurring in the homes of Bengali immigrants. The chapter asks: to what extent are rivalry, innovation, longing, and linkage of the goddesses with the land of Bengal to be found in contexts outside India? With material derived from nearly thirty visits to Durgā, Jagaddhātrī, and Kālī Pūjās in New York and New Jersey, this chapter illustrates that Durgā and Kālī—and to a lesser extent Jagaddhātrī—appear to be flourishing in their new diasporic contexts in North America. As in India and Bangladesh, so here: the Goddess is a national symbol of what it means to be a Hindu Bengali, and in celebrating her, Bengali devotees proclaim and nourish their own sense of identity.

This chapter probes the process of nation-state building in Greece based on Russian archival materials during the transition period from anarchy to absolutism (1833–5). It elucidates prevailing attitudes among Russian officials toward the establishment of a state apparatus in Greece, including the formation of political factions and the key symbols and ceremonies that promoted the growth of nationalism. The focus is on the methods pursued by St Petersburg to implement Official Nationality in Greece and the reactions of the Russian elite to the reform program of the Regency of King Othon. The chapter argues that Russian patronage and intervention helped engineer crucial aspects of the new imagined community that took shape. Ideologically, the Tsar and his ministers sought to promote a robust monarchy completely free from foreign influence. Yet, in its relations with the King and the Regency, Russia was more than a passive observer.

Panda Nation examines the giant panda and its fascinating qualities as an animal while tracing the story of its rise from obscurity to global prominence as a symbol of nature and the nation of China. The book places this story in the historical and political context of the tumultuous history of the People’s Republic of China. The emergence of the giant panda as a national icon was made possible in part by its own striking natural appearance and allure, but ultimately was the result of China’s effort to define itself as a nation. As the subject of government-directed science and popular nationalism, the giant panda’s rose in tandem with the dramatic ascent of China to a position of broad global influence. As a bridge to nature, the panda also integrated urban centers with local officials and ethnic minority villagers in China’s remote regions. As a point of pride, the panda symbolized cultural and economic shifts before it was used as a diplomatic tool. It became an expression of nationalism, a tool for diplomacy, and a means for international cooperation and scientific exchange.