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N orth A frica's S pain: peripheral national identities and the nation‐state as neo‐empire
Author(s) -
Karell Daniel
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
nations and nationalism
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.655
H-Index - 44
eISSN - 1469-8129
pISSN - 1354-5078
DOI - 10.1111/nana.12130
Subject(s) - nationalism , narrative , national identity , state (computer science) , identity (music) , national identities , sociology , political science , gender studies , law , aesthetics , literature , politics , philosophy , art , computer science , algorithm
When ethno‐cultural heterogeneity exists and thrives within a nation‐state, social tension and ethno‐nationalist sentiments are not considered surprising. Yet in many nation‐states, various native‐born communities have diverse and potentially contradictory national identities without the desire for self‐determination. In this paper, I explore the circumstances in which ethno‐culturally distinct, peripheral communities may develop variants of the dominant national identity – ensuring that they remain excluded from the national narrative – yet remain part of the nation‐state. To do so, I conduct a comparative analysis of the native‐born M uslim communities in S pain's two N orth A frican exclaves. I find that most M uslims are S panish citizens yet understandings of ‘ S panish‐ness’ appear to vary between the exclaves. I use these findings to propose further steps for refining current conceptualisations of the nation‐state, in an effort to better understand cases in which variations in the dominant national identity exist, but without ethno‐nationalist sentiments.