The Spatiality of Nationalism in the European Union

Allison Brown Political Geography Dr. Crane 3/11/2022 The Spatiality of Nationalism in the European Union The United States presidential elections of 2016 and 2020 both exemplified the stark differences between regions and states within the country. Ranging from the majority of the population in California and New York voting for Democrat tickets to the Bible Belt and traditionally Republican states like Wyoming or Alabama. However, more identifiable an explanation is the difference of party between urban and rural voters. Why populations in certain regional areas identify more strongly with a certain political party or ideology is based on their spatial understandings of their individual community, their identity in that space and how it relates to the identity of the nation as a whole. Regardless of disagreements in policy and practice between parties, the United States as a nation also has a national identity. And although regionally divides exist, individuals often identity first as an American and then as a member of their state. This is clear when immigration or refugees to the U.S. and can take on the identity of an “other” from outside the U.S. and different to what some perceive as the typical American identity. This American identity and its repercussions against “others” is formed by nationalism. In this essay, I will outline the ways in which nationalism is spatialized and examine these ideals with relations and policies in the European Union. 1 Critiques of classical theories of nationalism are critiqued AninIntroduction to Political Geography for “their tendencies to view nations as ontological social categories … [nations have been viewed] as agents in their own right, possessing the ability to affect social and spatial change” (Jones et al., 82). This national identity and nationalism constructed is also described by Anthony Smith as a process which includes sharing a historic territory, public culture, common myths, and a shared historical remembrance and past (Jones et al., 77). Brubaker takes this notion further with a commentary regarding ‘otherness’ or ‘groupness’, “ethnicity, race, and nation should be conceptualized not as substances or things or entities or organisms or collective individuals, as the imagery of discrete, concrete, tangible, bounded, and enduring groups encourage us to do, but rather in relations, processes, dynamic, eventful, and disaggregated terms” (Jones et al., 84). Essentially, constructions of the nation should be an item of collective individuals but as a static and dynamic entity. Since the 1980s with new movements in political geography, academics have more closely examined the connection with nations and national with spatial concepts. Geographers Colin Williams and Anthony Smith outlined eight different categories in which further research on the geographical ties to nationalism could be outlined as “habitat, folk culture, scale, location, boundary, autarchy, homeland, and nation building” (Jones et al., 85). Building off of this definition of nationalism and the impacts it has spatially, TheinOther from Within: Pan-Turkist Mythmaking and the Expulsion of the Turkish Left, Gregory Burris discusses how myths aid nationalistic ambitions, “nationalists create, or at the very least expand upon, national myths. These are beliefs, often related as stories, that work to 2 disseminate feelings of national belonging...” (Burris, 613). Nationalism, and its links to spatiality, are rooted in culture and the conceptions of societal myths. These conceptions of nationalism and state formation are exemplified in the formation of modern-day Europe, specifically with integration and cooperation among European states. The concept of nationalism is apparent in this example because while some states, being members of the European Union (E.U.) or the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (N.A.T.O.) or other multinational organization incentivize economic and political cooperation among European states. However, some European states remain concerned about their own lack of sovereignty or national identity with further cooperation. These European states view further cooperation as a threat to their own individual, nationalistic identities. In this example, it can be concluded that state sovereignty is a key aspect of nationalism which has allowed for each European state to govern themselves, hold their own elections, and other practices which foster the nationalistic identities each country holds. And although Europeans who are members of the E.U. have the ability to vote for representatives in that body, the E.U. institution does not have the same shared nationalistic identity as individual states have in their own governance practices and formations of national identity. The role of space impacting politics with this example is evident because individual state identities in Europe are formed because of state boundaries. There is a growing coalition of states and representatives within the E.U. and Europe calling for further integration of European states. Integration is already seen to a degree with 3 the European Single Market which allows for the E.U. to be recognized as a single territory without any internal borders or regulations that could prohibit trade, increasing the possibility for supply chains to be created and workers to move across arbitrary borders. The single market shows how integration is already taking place with some European states, and allows for trade efficiency which establishes the region as a whole as a relative trade and economic power. The Schengen Accords also serve as an example of European integration despite distinct nationalities constructed from territories. The Accords, established in 1985, defined the region and access of European people to move freely throughout the region in the European Union and outside in the “Schengen Zone”. All have open borders for free trade and movement as well as a common visa policy. By established the Zone, borders became arbitrary for trade and movement, in a way removing some spatiality of European states and alongside individual identities formed a European identify as well. Although nationalistic identities in Europe cause issues with further integration and necessitate some division in mainland Europe and within the E.U., when individuals from regions outside of Europe attempt to immigrate. The E.U. takes in a substantial member of refugees with the establishment of the Dublin Regulation. This regulation is law and determines each member state of the E.U. is responsible to submit people seeking international refuge under the Geneva Convention. Regardless of E.U. policy, attitudes surrounding the influx of refugees in states such as Germany, France, and the United Kingdom now outside the E.U. In this debate, nationalism forms the central basis. Refugees and immigration occurs in almost even nation globally and has become a significant issue in current political geography political and academic debates. The movement of people across 4 borders has always caused political conflict as often negative depictions of asylum seekers are portrayed by politicians and media alike. These depictions, often purposeful, are ultimately aimed at protecting individual state sovereignty and nationalism. This is shown with the United Kingdom’s “Brexit” from the E.U. in which one of the driving forces for individuals in the country to vote for leaving was in favor of the UK enacting stricter laws and regulations regarding refugees and immigration. The negative associations and depictions UK voters had of asylum seekers and refugees undeniably shaped opinions of average citizens of how immigrants could be a hindrance on the British economy and negatively impact the country. The concept of nationalism is evident in this example because the UK was more concerned about upholding their own state sovereignty to implement their migration policy preferences and seemingly protecting their national identity. In conclusion, the example of the E.U. and the role of nationalism, realized through space, serves as an example of how nationalism forms the core foundation of current political geography debates. Additionally, it is evident that nationalism is both a symptom and a cause of contemporary political geographic issues, as countries often prioritize their own interests above all else. 5 Citations Jones, M., et al.2015. ‘The political geographies of nationalism,’ in An Introduction to Political Geography (pp. 76-95). New York: Routledge. Burris, G. A. 2007. The Other from Within: Pan-Turkist Mythmaking and the Expulsion of the Turkish Left. Middle Eastern Studies, 43(4): 611-624 6 The first lines of the course description in the syllabus say that, "geographic space mediates political action and is transformed by it," and that "political geography is a practice of studying and establishing relations between politics, in its various forms, and space (the dimension of life examined by geographers, including spatial forms like place, landscape, and territory)." In this essay, you demonstrate your emerging ability to think geographically about politics or about the exercise of power. Completing this essay involves the following two tasks: 1. Identifying an example of a political phenomenon of your choice (for example, national identity formation, state formation, policymaking, social movement mobilization, everyday social differentiation, "regulation" and reregulation, etc.) 2. Revealing, through discussion of that phenomenon, its spatiality (that is, the way space matters to your example -- how one spatial form or another is produced as part of "politics" in this particular case, how existing spaces influence it, how geographic space "mexdiates" this example of political action (per the syllabus), etc.) 7 You will complete these tasks approximately in 1,250 words, which is approximately five double-spaced pages if you use a typical font type (e.g., Times New Roman, Garamond, etc.) and font size (11 or 12 point font). I expect the essay to be written in the form of a traditional academic essay, which is to say, with a clear thesis/argument at the outset, and with a series of paragraphs that substantiate your thesis/argument. You must cite at least three chapters or articles from the course material so far as you write this essay. These course materials can be useful for substantiating your claim, either by way of a concept or theory from the reading, or by way of an example offered by the author(s). Your citation style is up to you (e.g., APA, MLA, Harvard, or whatever), so long as you are consistent and your citations function to direct me to the corresponding passages in the texts to which you refer. 8