Abstract
This chapter argues that an understanding of how time is perceived and ordered is a key, and previously under-recognized, element in the shaping of social identities and boundaries. Such an understanding is of particular importance for an interpretation of the rise of ethnic and national allegiances by establishing how groups reconstruct the past, using myths, symbols and imagery, for a new or revived identity. It is argued that survivalist or inventionist perspectives on ethnic and national identity need to include a clearer view of cultural transmission and identity construction. The example of recent research in Wales is used to examine the ‘reformation’ of identity. Finally, it is argued that globalization and postmodern fragmentation are not all-encompassing processes which eradicate local or other identities or produce such identities merely as a ‘reaction’ to wider forces.
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© 1999 British Sociological Association
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Roberts, B. (1999). Time, Biography and Ethnic and National Identity Formation. In: Brehony, K.J., Rassool, N. (eds) Nationalisms Old and New. Explorations in Sociology. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-27627-1_10
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-27627-1_10
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
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