nationalist images and myths
11:27, 6 November 2005
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At a recent conference on development research (development as in community, human, institutional) in Bonn, Germany, I signed up for every free sample of journal that was available (I love free stuff). As a result, earlier this week, the Winter 2004 edition of Nationalism and Ethnic Politics arrived in my mailbox, and I've found its first article in issue #4 completely riveting: "Mobilizing the Past: Nationalist Images of History" by John Coakley examines the mechanisms by which myths of history are created and disseminated -- myths of origin, of development, and of destiny. This article offers terrific examples of how various communities and states around the world perceive their past, and how politicians and others work to manipulate interpretations of history in order to, thereby, manipulate people. To work with communities successfully anywhere means, at least in part, to understand how their members see their identity as a people -- even if that identity is based in myth. This is especially true for working with communities in conflict.
