The International Studies Association hosted a webinar with Peter Rutland on expressions of nationalism on Wednesday, Oct. 2.
Rutland, a professor of government and the Colin and Nancy Campbell chair for global issues and democratic thought at Wesleyan University, gave a presentation titled “Banal Nationalism.” He explored the work of Michael Billig and how nationalism has changed throughout the world and over the course of time.
Billig released the book “Banal Nationalism” in 1995 and has since coined the term to refer to common representations of a nation, or its national identity.
“He drew attention to the routine, unnoticed, unquestioned everyday expressions of national identity, such as raising the flag or buying clothes with national logos on them,” said Rutland.
Rather than examining nationalism through a top-down process—looking at the strategies of instrumental leaders or intellectual elites—Rutland wants to examine the daily lives of people within a nation. He explores six aspects: flags, food, clothing, social rituals, sports and business.
Rutland brought examples of flags and how they are used.
“The most pervasive manifestation of everyday nationalism is the national flag. The Saint George’s flag, which is the English flag, as opposed to the U.K. Union Jack,” he said. “Only in the last 20 years or so did it become common for English people to display the English flag. This was all connected to football or soccer matches.”
He mentioned the difference between how individuals would display flags. During Singapore’s National Day, there are block captains in each apartment block to ensure everybody displays flags outside of their homes. In contrast, the United States doesn’t require citizens to display flags on national holidays, though it’s a widespread practice to do so.
A relatively new phenomenon is displaying flags of foreign countries; Rutland used the example of Ukraine to show this. Flags are not just a display of nationalism, but they’re also in support of other nations.
“One interesting thing that happened in 2022 in the U.S. and throughout Europe was the display of the Ukrainian flag in solidarity. Both in private houses but also in government buildings,” he said.
Rutland then moved on to food and how it is used as a vehicle to express national identity.
“Food is often coded as belonging to a certain nation,” he said. “It’s very commonly used to express pride in one’s national identity and rituals of preparation and consumption of food are a way of linking family lives with national.”
He used examples of the Chinese tradition of making dumplings before the new year, and America’s fascination with turkey on Thanksgiving. But beyond holidays, Rutland described the ways in which ethnic restaurants are a way to meet others in the diaspora. The movement of cuisine has created melting pots of culture throughout the world.
Some significant dishes or foods are vital to a nation’s identity. Rutland showed the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s (UNESCO) “List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding.” It includes Ukrainian borscht, the French baguette, Chinese tea and Tunisian harissa seasoning.
For clothing, Rutland described it as the “visual manifestation of national identity.”
“In the creation of the modern Turkish identity, probably the most successful nation-building project of the 20th century. Kemal Atatürk famously banned the fez and promoted Western clothing,” he said. “I didn’t realize that the fez itself was relatively new, having been introduced in 1825 after the banning of the turban, which was seen as archaic too.”
Another form of attire that became popular was the Mao suit, also known as the Zhongshan suit in China. But Rutland mentions that national clothing is usually gender-specific. The vyshyvanka is important for women throughout Ukraine, Belarus and Russia.
Social pastimes or rituals are thought to be unique across countries, but Rutland shows how some rituals are very similar to each other. Castells are human towers performed in Catalonia. Rutland said Catalonia claims these human towers are unique to them. But he points out that India has been engaging in similar rituals through the human towers in the Dahi Handi festival to celebrate the birth of Krishna.
Some rituals are newer and more spontaneous. Rutland uses the example of Lady Diana’s death in 1997, where flowers and memorabilia were spread outside of Buckingham Palace. Social rituals can also act as a form of solidarity and remembrance.
Rutland moved on to sports, which have a strong connection to each nation and how they connect with one another. Sports acting as a connection across borders is a fairly new occurrence, but it has a very specific beginning, according to Rutland.
“It’s not a coincidence that mass sporting events are organized into international leagues and then competitions between national teams,” he said. “That organizational infrastructure built up in Europe from the 1870s onwards, which was exactly the same period when we saw peak nationalism with the unification of Germany and Italy, and then the mass mobilization which fed into World War I.”
Although sports are supposed to be celebrated, Rutland mentions how tensions from soccer matches have led to acts of violence. In 2014, a soccer match between Serbia and Albania was disrupted by a drone carrying the Albanian double-headed eagle flag, which was torn down. A fight broke out among fans.
“A lot of the nationalism in football matches has been of the exclusive ethno-nationalism variety, but we’ve also seen football being used to promote civic identity because of the multiracial, multiethnic composition of almost all the leading teams in Europe,” he said.
An example of the multiracial aspect of sports is France’s victory in the 2018 World Cup, where comedian Trevor Noah joked, “Did Africa just win the World Cup?” He received criticism for his joke from the French ambassador, soccer fans and players alike.
Rutland’s final point was on business, or the commercial use of nationalism. To him, it’s not a question of bottom-up or top-down roles, but businesses are actors somewhere in the middle.
“Business is not a political actor per se. They’re just trying to make money,” he said.
Businesses use patriotism and nationalism for profit, since using national brands can help sell products. In this way, businesses appeal to the patriotism of consumers and cultivate it.
“Profit-seeking and patriotism are synergistic, and it’s also a way of protecting domestic markets from fine imports and the state,” said Rutland.
He uses examples of the “Mother India” character from the Ahmedabad New Textile Mills and commercial ads, which use the figure to promote their products. Rutland also shows the various alternatives to Coca-Cola across countries, including Inca Kola in Peru, Thums Up in India and Kvass Nikola in Russia.
In the end, Rutland argues that nationalism should be examined not just through major political actors, but by the population itself. Through various foods, rituals and cultural factors, nationalism can be seen as something much more ingrained in everyday life than scholars think.