Nation-building

About: Nation-building is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 2019 publications have been published within this topic receiving 27930 citations. The topic is also known as: nation building.

Economic Rationalism in Canberra: A Nation-Building State Changes its Mind

Abstract: Throughout the world since the 1970s, state and public sector reform has been driven by a conservative agenda emphasising notions of 'streamlining' and 'rationalisation'; Australia has been no exception. Michael Pusey undertakes a detailed analysis of top bureaucrats in Canberra who have been responsible for this recasting of national policy. He concludes that economist rationalist view dominate each of the key ministries, and have altered the traditional balance between the economy, the state and society. The book also discusses the social significance of economic rationalisation and public sector reform from a theoretical perspective, contributing to contemporary understanding of modernisation, public morality and citizenship in the new global order.

The Creation of Tribalism in Southern Africa

Abstract: Despite a quarter century of "nation building," most African states are still driven by ethnic particularism--commonly known as "tribalism." The stubborn persistence of tribal ideologies despite the profound changes associated with modernization has puzzled scholars and African leaders alike. The bloody hostilities between the tribally-oriented Zulu Inkhata movement and supporters of the African National Congress are but the most recent example of tribalism's tenacity. The studies in this volume offer a new historical model for the growth and endurance of such ideologies in southern Africa.

The Blood of Guatemala: A History of Race and Nation

Abstract: Over the latter half of the twentieth century, the Guatemalan state slaughtered more than two hundred thousand of its citizens. In the wake of this violence, a vibrant pan-Mayan movement has emerged, one that is challenging Ladino (non-indigenous) notions of citizenship and national identity. In The Blood of Guatemala Greg Grandin locates the origins of this ethnic resurgence within the social processes of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century state formation rather than in the ruins of the national project of recent decades. Focusing on Mayan elites in the community of Quetzaltenango, Grandin shows how their efforts to maintain authority over the indigenous population and secure political power in relation to non-Indians played a crucial role in the formation of the Guatemalan nation. To explore the close connection between nationalism, state power, ethnic identity, and political violence, Grandin draws on sources as diverse as photographs, public rituals, oral testimony, literature, and a collection of previously untapped documents written during the nineteenth century. He explains how the cultural anxiety brought about by Guatemala’s transition to coffee capitalism during this period led Mayan patriarchs to develop understandings of race and nation that were contrary to Ladino notions of assimilation and progress. This alternative national vision, however, could not take hold in a country plagued by class and ethnic divisions. In the years prior to the 1954 coup, class conflict became impossible to contain as the elites violently opposed land claims made by indigenous peasants. This “history of power” reconsiders the way scholars understand the history of Guatemala and will be relevant to those studying nation building and indigenous communities across Latin America.

The Politics of Nation Building and Citizenship in Singapore

Abstract: Since independence in 1965 Singapore has strengthened its own national identity through a conscious process of nation-building and promoting the active role of the citizen within society. Singapore is a state that has firmly rejected welfarism but whose political leaders have maintained that collective values, instead of those of autonomous individuals, are essential to its very survival. The book begins by examining basic concepts of citizenship, nationality and the state in the context of Singapore's arrival at independence. The theme of nation-building is explored and how the creation of a national identity, through building new institutions, has been a central feature of political and social life in Singapore. Of great importance has been education, and a system of multilingual education that is part of a broader government strategy of multiculturalism and multiracialism; both have served the purpose of building a new national identity. Other areas covered by the authors include family planning, housing policy, the creation of parapolitical structures and the importance of shared "Asian values" amongst Singapore's citizens.

The Failure Of The Centralized State: Institutions And Self-governance In Africa

Abstract: After nearly three decades of post-colonial independence in Africa, the shortcomings of the centralist strategy of nation building and economic development have become evident. Development has stagnated, rural welfare has declined, ethnic conflicts have intensified, civil wars abound and many civilian regimes have fallen to military despotisms or rule as narrow oligarchies. This book seeks to explains why the centralized African state has failed. Contributors relate contemporary African history to theories of organizational behaviour, collective action, constitutional choice, public administration and institutional analysis, arguing that the centralist paradigm is fundamentally flawed in its theories of the basis of social order, the sources of political unity and the origins of economic development. The contributors discuss the breakdown of social processes and structures indirectly caused by the policies of the centralized state and examine the constitutional principles that might provide a basis for more effective national government throughout the African continent.