Under international law, the term national identity, concerning states, is interchangeable with the term state's identity or sovereign identity of the state. A State's identity by definition is related to the Constitutional name of the state used as a legal identification in international relations and an essential element of the state's international juridical personality. The sovereign identity of the nation also represents a common denominator for identification of the national culture or cultural identity and under International Law any external interference with the cultural identity or cultural beliefs[7] and traditions appear to be inadmissible. Any deprivation or external modification of the cultural national identity seems to violate basic collective human rights.[8]
The expression of one's national identity seen in a positive light is patriotism which is characterized by national pride and the positive emotion of love for one's country. The extreme expression of national identity is chauvinism, which refers to the firm belief in the country's superiority and extreme loyalty toward one's country.[1]
National identity is not an inborn trait and it is essentially socially constructed.[9] There is no agreed definition of what constitutes national identity.[10] It can result from the presence of elements from the "common points" in people's daily lives: national symbols, languages, colors, the nation's history, blood ties, culture, music, cuisine, radio, television, and so on.[11][6] Under various social influences, people incorporate national identity into their identities by adopting beliefs, values, assumptions, and expectations which align with one's national identity.[6] People with identification of their nation view national beliefs and values as personally meaningful and translate these beliefs and values into daily practices.[1]
Three main schools of defining national identity exist. Essentialists view national identity as fixed, based on ancestry, a common language history, ethnicity, and world views (Connor 1994;[12] Huntington 1996[13]). Constructivists believed in the importance of politics and the use of power by dominant groups to gain and maintain privileged status in society (Brubaker, 2009;[14] Spillman, 1997;[15] Wagner-Pacifici & Schwartz, 1991[16]). Finally, the civic identity school focuses on shared values about rights and State institutions' legitimacy to govern.
A few scholars investigated how popular culture connects with the identity-building process. Some found that contemporary music genres can strengthen ethnic identity by increasing the feeling of ethnic pride.[17]
Political scientist Rupert Emerson defined national identity as "a body of people who feel that they are a nation".[18] This definition of national identity was endorsed by social psychologist, Henri Tajfel, who formulated social identity theory together with John Turner.[19] Social identity theory adopts this definition of national identity and suggests that the conceptualization of national identity includes both self-categorization and affect. Self-categorization refers to identifying with a nation and viewing oneself as a member of a nation. The affect part refers to the emotion a person has with this identification, such as a sense of belonging, or emotional attachment toward one's nation.[2] The mere awareness of belonging to a certain group invokes positive emotions about the group and leads to a tendency to act on behalf of that group, even when the other group members are sometimes personally unknown.[2]
National identity requires the process of self-categorization, and it involves both the identification of in-group (identifying with one's nation) and the differentiation of out-groups (other nations). By recognizing commonalities such as having common descent and common destiny, people identify with a nation and form an in-group, and at the same time they view people that identify with a different nation as out-groups.[20] Social identity theory suggests a positive relationship between the identification of a nation and the derogation of other nations. By identifying with one's nation, people are involved in intergroup comparisons and tend to derogate out-groups.[2][21] However, several studies have investigated this relationship between national identity and derogating their countries and found that identifying with national identity does not necessarily result in out-group derogation.[22]
National identity, like other social identities, engenders emotions such as pride and love for one's nation, and a feeling of obligation toward other citizens.[23] The socialization of national identity, such as socializing national pride and a sense of the country's exceptionalism contributes to harmony among ethnic groups. For example, in the U.S. by integrating diverse ethnic groups in the overarching identity of being an American, people are united by a shared emotion of national pride and the feeling of belonging to the U.S., and thus tend to mitigate ethnic conflicts.[24]
From the point of International Law, sovereign national identity could not be subject to a treaty regulation or revision and any international treaty aiming to create or change the national identity of the sovereign state appears to violate the jus cogens rights of the nation. Treaty of revision of the national identity could be subject to termination under Article 53 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties (which states: "A treaty is void if, at the time of its conclusion, it conflicts with a peremptory norm of general international law."). Any deprivation or revision of the sovereign national identity appears to constitute an ethnocide. National identity could not be subject to imposition, revision, or deprivation under any circumstances.
National identity can be most noticeable when the nation confronts external or internal enemies[4] and natural disasters.[25] An example of this phenomenon is the rise in patriotism and national identity in the United States after the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001.[26][27] The identity of being an American is salient after the terrorist attacks and American national identity is evoked.[1] Having a common threat or a common goal unites people in a nation and enhances national identity.[28][self-published source]
Sociologist Anthony Smith argues that national identity has the feature of continuity that can transmit and persist through generations. By expressing the myths of having common descent and common destiny, people's sense of belonging to a nation is enhanced.[20] However, national identities can disappear over time as more people live in foreign countries for a longer time[clarification needed], and can be challenged by supranational identities, which refers to identifying with a more inclusive, larger group that includes people from multiple nations.[29]
Research on the study abroad experience that focused on the effects of American stereotypes found that American students faced challenges in connecting with their host country during their study abroad experience because of stereotypes of American identity. A stereotype that affected their experience was connected to politics during the 2016 United States presidential election of Donald Trump, the study found that students would disengage, distance, avoid, assimilate, or challenge their identity or host culture in response to the interactions they faced (Goldstein, 97). These preconceived ideas by the host culture and even by Americans affect the ability of people from different backgrounds to understand and accept one another as an individual rather than the stereotype of a cultural group.[30]
The people are the basic concept for a national identity. But people can be identified and constructed through different logics of nationalism. Examples range from the Völkisch movement to people's republics.
A national consciousness is a shared sense of national identity[31] and a shared understanding that a people group shares a common ethnic/linguistic/cultural background. Historically, a rise in national consciousness has been the first step toward the creation of a nation. National consciousness, at a glance, is one's level of awareness, of the collective and one's understanding that without "them" there is no "us". It is the mere awareness of the many shared attitudes and beliefs towards things like family, customs, societal and gender roles, etc. The awareness allows one to have a "collective identity" which allows them to be knowledgeable of not only where they are but how those places and people around them are so significant in that they ultimately make the collective, a nation. In short, national consciousness can be defined as a specific core of attitudes that provide habitual modes for regarding life's phenomena.[32]
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