Anthony D. Smith Nationalism, Ethnicity, and Global Culture

The World Results! •Avg score = ~28

•High score = 58

•Low score =

really, really, low

…>10

•Geographic

Regions which

need some

serious attention

ASAP = • Africa,

• Central Asia,

• South East Asia,

• Europe

For Tues. • BBC Global Newswatch

• Regions World, Africa,

Asia, Europe, Latin

America, Middle East

• Banff Mountain Film

Festival: World Tour—

UVM Thurs-Sat

Anthony D. Smith London School of Economics

Sociologist

Interdisciplinary – Global Problems/Issues

are complex, and therefore, require

multi-disciplinary approaches for any

understanding or solutions.

Smith’sFocal points:

Ethnicity,

Culture,

Nationalism

Ideology formation

IDENTITY formation and POWER

Ethnicity

•An ethnic group (or ethnicity) is a group of people whose

members identify with each other, through a shared

heritage, often consisting of a shared language, a shared

culture (often including a shared religion) and/or a shared ideology that

stresses common ancestry, values, and roots

1. Cultural heritage

2. Language

3. Belief-religious/spiritual values

4. Politics

5. Ideological stance

6. Ethnosymbolism

•

Oh, Canada. (Cultural Heritage)

U.S. Ethnicity (by “cultural heritage”)

European Ethnicity (defined by

shared language)

South Asia (Linguistic/language)

“ethnicity” by way of religious values

Ethnic Groups in the Middle East (Traditional)

Ethnicity in Afghanistan

Iraq

Baghdad Ethnic/Religious Neighborhoods

Ethnicity (Middle East) – “Traditional”

Ukraine

Conflicts in Africa by Ethnic Region

Conceptual Backdrop to Anthony Smith

Roland Barthes Mythologies •Mythologies is a book by Roland Barthes, published in 1957.

• Barthes examines “the tendency of contemporary social value systems to

fabricate/create modern myths about itself and its people and the

important prioritized cultural values.

• Barthes looks at the process of myth creationand the people or organizations

that are involved.

• He focuses on a second level semiotics where signs/symbols are

elevated to the level of myth through media and cultural repetition and

sociological propaganda

• Structuralism. Every social system has a structured order of signs/symbols which

we use to derive meaning and relationships. Whoever controls “meaning-making”

structures or processes also tends has the POWER in our society.

Structuralism + Semiotics Popular Culture Studies

•Roland Barthe’s Mythologies + Frankfurt School of Theorists

Popular Culture Studies

•CONCEPTUAL BELIEFS:

1. In the 20th & 21st Centuries, SOFT POWER has become equally as important

as traditional HARD POWER (Military, Nation, Resources)

2. The geo-politics of SOFT POWER MUST be more critically analyzed in order

to understand any and ALL parts of globalization.

Popular Culture studies

Focus: The systematic study and critique of …

1.Culture Industries and Patterns of Behavior associated

with Fashion

Celebrity

Fads/Trends

Popular books/fiction

Magazines

Movies

Music

Sports

Video Games

Food

2.Media and Communication systems (both the Technologies

AND Techniques)

3.The SYMBOLS and trends of POPULAR CULTURE

4.AUDIENCES and Identities (Mass and individuals)

5.ENCULTURATION & Socialization Processes

6.The blending & bridging of culture-politics-economics

Celebrity as Global Symbol

Poltical & Economic Power

Global Logos

Nationalistic Semiotics

Smith’s Arguments about Global

Culture!

1. Global culture is an “artificial”

cultural construct largely promoted

by way of:

– Television–Seductive visuals,

music, commentary

– Marketing tools/ploys to sell the

idea of global harmony in order to

sell products or ideologies.

**This global culture artiface has grown

exponentially with digital media—

Mobile Media, Global Advertising,

Social Media--YouTube, FaceBook,

Twitter, etc.

Smith’s Arguments about Global Culture!

2. Global Culture is an illusionary and largely “optimistic ideal which glosses over HUGE differences created by ethnicity, nationalism, race, language, culture, religion, etc. in

order to create a feeling of ONE WORLD HARMONIUS UNITY.

Banff International Film Festival

and Global Culture?

• Strengths?

• Weaknesses?