Social and National Identity in the American South - Essay Example

 Social and National Identity in the American South Introduction One of the most interesting aspects of sociology it to attempt to understand as to how people manage to develop a sense of membership and a notion of belonging with a particular group. Even more interesting is to delve on the mechanisms that govern the intergroup discrimination. Right from the sports fans to the students affiliated to elite colleges and universities do exhibit a marked sense of social identity. The theory of social identity is neutral in the sense that it could give way to both positive and undesirable social consequences. Many a times the viciousness associated with intergroup discrimination and the resultant competition could give way to nasty social and national arrangements like apartheid in earlier South Africa or acts of genocide or say the Jim Crow laws in the American South. The other aspect of a yearning for social identity is the merging of individual and ethnic identities into a larger national identity to give way to cohesiveness and cooperation. The post independence India and Singapore are apt examples of this aspect of social identity. People do tend to aspire for group memberships to look for mechanisms to bolster the individual and collective self esteem. However, sometimes mere group affiliations are in themselves not sufficient to strengthen their self esteem. Under such situations, people do aspire to think and establish that they are in just the right group by giving way to positive distinctions from other groups. Assumption of an umbrella national identity, over regional and ethnic identities is one such way in which the social identity theory is utilized to give way to a pan national cohesiveness. Incorporation of National Identities in Individual Social Identities As per the social identity theory, an individual is not merely endowed with a single self, but rather many selves that share boundaries with varied circles representing group memberships. As to which personal self and individual intensely relates to depends on a specific context which encourages or stimulates an individual to think in terms of family, ethnic or national level of self (Tajfel & Turner 117). For instance, deep personal loss or trauma may motivate an individual to think in terms of family level of self. Instances of social prejudice and ethnic discrimination may encourage an individual to opt for an ethnic level of self. The natural premise that originates from such catechism is that apart from thinking in terms of personal selves, an individual is also liable to affiliate to or shun multiple social identities (Tajfel & Turner 121). The individuals tend to internalize these social and group identities on the basis of their personal perceptions as to what defines “us”. This notion of social identity may be way part from an individual’s personal identity, which has primarily to do with the peculiar and unique attributes of an individual. Take for instance the caste based society in India (Singh 6). At an individual level an orthodox upper caste Hindu in India, depending on one’s individual beliefs, may find nothing in common with a lower caste Hindu or say a Muslim. However, in moments of national distress or under a threat to the nation, the very same person may find nothing wrong in including these hitherto shunned groups in a commonly shared national identity affiliated to common goals and aspirations. Within the perspective of this particular example lies the relevance of Benedict Anderson’s Theory of Imagined Communities. It helps one to understand as to what is the national identity? A national identity is one possible social identity out of many. Under many circumstances, a national identity may assume the strength and status of an all encompassing identity, to which may stand subservient all the other social identities. No doubt as Benedict Anderson said, a nation is a socially constructed community (54). It is an imagined political community (Anderson 54). Yet, the very notion of national identity serves its purpose in modern times as in such times people and groups have no other option but to exist, interact and trade as units called a ‘nation’. No more can people afford to exist as tribes and ethnic groups. They need to carry within their heads the perception of a social identity that is accessible to a majority of the population of a limited identity called a nation and that serves the human, social, cultural, economic, and political and international objectives of a sovereign unit called a nation. The well being of the many gauds the intelligentsia and political leadership in a nation to continually refurbish and bolster the national identity through national celebrations, public relations events and other such voluntary and deliberate events, which eventually come to command a real and potent space in the mind and hearts of citizens. Case of Singapore Singapore is an apt example of a nation which has been instrumental in exploiting the concept of national identity to its political and economic advantage (Ortmann 23). After its independence in 1965, when Singapore was ejected from the larger Malaysian Union, it became evident to the government that it need to promote pragmatic secular values as an essential constituent of the national identity as the traditional values associated with local identities were contrary to the requisites of development, modernity and economic success (Ortmann 27). So the People’s Action Party consciously envisaged programs that sidelined the traditional cultural values as they could have turned out to be salient obstacles to the young nation’s development driven plans. However, it soon became evident to the state that a strong and thriving notion of national identity was central to the objective of envisaging Singapore as an island nation in which the diverse ethnic communities were committed to contributing to the collective prosperity and growth. The need was felt to create a viable national identity. To begin with the Singapore government took an indirect route to the creation of a national identity amongst its citizens by starting a housing scheme, called HDB (Ortmann 28). The state also introduced the National Service to bolster the national defence (Ortmann 28). At a later stage the government took a direct recourse to the creation of a national identity by encouraging the use of national symbols like the national flag, national anthem and the national pledge (Ortmann 28). The annual National Day Celebrations was one other important step in this direction (Ortmann 28). Till now the Singaporeans were used to narrow and personal ethnic identities. However, the vision of a developed and prosperous Singapore presented a goal and a vision that justified the subservience of the ethnic identities to a larger national identity. The single party system in Singapore is one other aspect that has contributed much to the national identity in Singapore (Ortmann 28). The one quintessential reason for the success of a single party system in Singapore was the strong commitment of the ruling party to the goal of national development and prosperity. The close link between the national identity and party objectives is signified by the stark similarity between the national pledge and the party pledge. Hence, the individual perception of a Singaporean as to what defines “us” is intricately affiliated to the party agenda and any cultural and ethnic values that deter this collective vision get sidelined. Conclusion In conclusion it will be pragmatic to say that it is a collective sense of fraternity that at the same time caters to the collective goals, aspirations and survival, which nudges the individuals and groups to relegate group and ethnic identities, before a larger national identity. Singapore is an apt example of this. Word Count: 1250 Works Cited Anderson, Benedict. Imagined Communities. London: Verso, 1991. Ortmann, Stephan. “Singapore: The Politics of Inventing National Identity”. Journal of Current Southeast Asian Affairs 28. 4 (2009): 23-46. Singh, Ekta. Caste System in India. New York: Kalpaz Publication, 2009. Tajfel, H & Turner, JC. The Social Identity Theory of Inter-Group Behaviour. In S Worchel & LW Austin (eds.). Psychology of Intergroup Relations. Chicago: Nelson-Hall, 1986. Read More