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Banal Nationalism in the Internet Age: Rethinking the Relationship Between Nations, Nationalisms and the Media

  • Lukasz SzulcEmail author
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Abstract

Classic authors in nations and nationalisms studies recognize mainstream media as crucial for the construction of nations and spread of nationalisms. While the media landscape in their works is confined to traditional media, in this theoretical chapter Szulc rethinks the relationship between nations, nationalisms and the media in the digital age. Zooming in on the concept of banal nationalism, which refers to unconscious and unnoticed reproductions of both individual nations and the world as a world of nations, he examines the role of the internet for everyday reproductions of nations and nationalisms. Each section of his chapter starts with a specific point of criticism of banal nationalism—related to methodological nationalism, sociological essentialism and technological determinism—and continues by applying the criticism to the internet.

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© The Author(s) 2017

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.London School of Economics and Political ScienceLondonUK

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