Montserrat Guibernau - Belonging_ Solidarity and Division in Modern Societies (2013, Polity)

I have written this book while holding a Leverhulme Trust Research Fellowship granting me research leave, and I am enormously grateful to the Trust for creating this unique opportunity.

Among those who have contributed to the preparation of this book, I wish to thank Gill Motley, Justin Dyer and Clare Ansell.

This book could not have been written without the constant support of my husband and my parents.

Cambridge, March 2013

Introduction

This book argues that the strength and popularity of belonging seriously undermine arguments pointing to the predominance of individualism as the key feature of modern societies. At present, the tension between solidarity and division reflects the complexities of belonging at a time when social, cultural and ethnic diversity feature prominently.

Identification with a group1 or community tends to play a major role in the construction of individual identity built by way of inclusion and exclusion and by constant re-negotiation, modification and transformation of shifting boundaries, which, at times, become fuzzy. Individual identities are not clear-cut; rather they are subject to transformations emerging from their intrinsic dynamic nature. Various identities tend to coexist at a time, and their relevance moves and switches according to individual needs, external demands and expectations.

When joining a community, such as the nation or a church, individuals are expected to conform and follow its rules, to be loyal to its principles and aims, and to accept its dogmas and hierarchy so that a sentiment of solidarity can emerge among them. Throughout this process, self-identification with the community’s values and objectives becomes paramount.

This book shows that through the process of identification with the group or community, from peer groups and local communities to ethnic groups and nations, the individual’s self-identity is

gradually replaced by the ‘overriding identity’ of the collective, which now becomes the key source of the individual’s new selfidentity. As a result, the individual melts into the group, adopts its values and principles and follows its dictates. The transformation of self-identity under the influence of the newly acquired collective identity encourages the individual to give up a substantial degree of personal freedom in exchange for the security and warmth associated with group membership. In this context the sharing of a collective identity holds a potent emotional content that often becomes instrumental in turning a group into a political actor

– endowed with varying degrees of power – able to challenge, oppose, transform or endorse the status quo.

Identity is constructed both through belonging and through exclusion – as a choice or as imposed by others – and, in both cases, it involves various degrees of emotional attachment to a range of communities and groups. The innovative character­ of my argument is that through the process of choosing, belonging is turned into a consequence of free will, which implies a degree of personal commitment absent from assigned forms of membership where individuals are ‘expected to’ conform to a series of norms, habits and behaviours in the name of tradition.

Here I maintain that membership of a group or community – for example, the nation or a faith – has the ability to offer a vantage point from which human beings are able to transcend their limited existence by sharing some common interests, objectives and characteristic with fellow-members. Belonging by choice entails identification with the group, and this automatically enhances its qualities in the individual’s own eyes.

Outline of the book

The book is divided into seven chapters. Chapter 1 focuses upon the construction of identity and its use as a political instrument. It establishes a sharp contrast between traditional and modern societies with reference to the differing degrees of freedom of choice enjoyed by individuals while they are engaged in the construction of their own lives: for instance, the concept of self-identity, as such, was not relevant in traditional societies.

It begins with a theoretical discussion of identity illustrated by the multiple and sometimes contradictory meanings attributed to wearing a burqa or a niqab in the West. In doing so, it highlights processes of reinvention of tradition effected by a radical transformation in the meaning of certain practices, including adherence to a particular dress code. This brings to the fore a detailed analysis of some of the main complexities and contradictions involved in the construction of self-identity which includes the various ways in which conflicting identities both coexist and clash with each other. The chapter analyses the role as well as the fuzzy and fluid nature of boundaries in the construction of identity and it also emphasizes the potential use of identity as a political instrument. It then moves on to discuss the impact of globalization as a transformative force by examining economic insecurity and uncertainty, cultural anxiety and political alienation as the main traits defining individuals in Western liberal democracies.

Chapter 2 appraises the meaning and consequences of belonging by choice as a distinctive feature of modern society. In so doing, it assesses the consequences of belonging and brings to the fore the sentiments of doubt and ambivalence concerning the price to be paid in exchange for being accepted as a member of a particular group or community. Here I analyse the conditions and attributes of belonging and study the processes leading to the construction of collective forms of identity. In particular, I consider the role of symbols in the construction of collective identities. Belonging to the nation entails consciousness of forming a community, sharing a common culture, history, attachment to a particular territory, and having the will to decide upon its political future. The emotional attachment associated with the idea of belonging by choice becomes instrumental in processes of collective identity formation, as well as in processes of political mobilization.

Chapter 3 explores the dual nature of belonging as both enabling and constraining men and women living in modern societies who, up to a point, enjoy freedom of choice. As such, it analyses the meaning of freedom in the work of Immanuel Kant, Erich Fromm, and Michel Foucault. The chapter then focuses on what I define as the ‘fiction of original thought’: that is, the belief that our ideas and views are unique and original while, in truth, we are just reproducing the views that have been instilled in us by public opinion and the media. This emphasizes that belonging depends

upon the willingness to conform to values, norms, dress codes and other conditions imposed by the group that people wish to join. Yet while freedom has enabled the independence and rationality of individuals, it has often left at least some of them with feelings of isolation associated with a sense of anxiety and powerlessness. It is my argument that belonging by choice acts as an antidote to alienation and loneliness. Even so, to escape freedom, people pursue different strategies, ranging from conformity to obedience to a superior power, ideology, faith or community, which, in all cases seems to entail a certain degree of dependence.

Chapter 4 maintains that in modern societies not everybody is entitled to freedom of choice and not everyone is prepared to use his or her freedom. Here I examine the rise of authoritarian politics exemplified by the proliferation and strengthening of new radical right populist parties across Europe and beyond. This trend is also illustrated by the reappearance of various forms of fundamentalism encompassing the market, politics and the resurgence of religious fundamentalism as a force with political aims. The rise of the new radical right, by excluding those considered ‘too different’, leaves out an important number of people – mainly some immigrants and Muslims. By denying them the right to belong, they are being condemned to the status of ‘permanent outsiders’. The ascent of the new radical right raises important issues about tolerance and rights within multicultural liberal democracies. Crucially, it prompts the debate about ‘who is’ and ‘who is not’ entitled to belong – a question that has serious economic, political and social consequences associated with it. The chapter offers a fresh analysis of the ideology and political discourse of the new radical right. It also investigates its ‘anti-immigrant’ position as well as its transnational nature and ‘white nativist’ programme.

Chapter 5 concentrates on what I refer to as ‘the rituals of belonging’. It examines the ability of symbols to embody entities

– such as the nation – by endowing them with distinct attributes destined to make them unique. In so doing, symbols bring to the fore their own power as pillars of individual as well as collective forms of identity. Symbols help individuals to make sense of their own lives and they also contribute to define the characteristics, structure and hierarchy of the communities they belong to. To do so efficiently, symbols must retain some ambiguity allowing for a variety of meanings. In turn, ritual communicates authority and

hierarchy and, in order to reinforce a sentiment of belonging, it also emphasizes the dependence of the group. The role of ritual in legitimizing political power is illustrated by reference to two examples: the search for new symbols to prompt and consolidate political change brought about by the Arab Spring; and the role of symbolism and ritual aiming to legitimize the dictatorship imposed by General Franco after the Spanish Civil War.

Chapter 6 begins with a question: does loyalty involve a free choice, or is it the outcome of being under pressure? Here I ­establish a distinction between ‘authoritarian’ and ‘democratic’ loyalty. The concept of ‘authoritarian loyalty’ refers to loyalty as conformity and, as such, it absolves the individual from personal responsibility for actions performed in the service of political superiors. In contrast, ‘democratic loyalty’ points to a dynamic principle defined by a free devotion to the best interests of the object of loyal attachment. Still a further concept is introduced here, namely ‘instrumental loyalty’, referring to those cases in which the individual’s loyalty is conditional upon whether expected rewards are obtained. This chapter examines the meaning of loyalty as an attitude grounded upon a distinctive emotional commitment and identification. It points out that a shared sentiment of belonging to the nation acts as a potent trigger of loyalty often channelled through nationalism. A certain degree of loyalty is expected from those who belong, but in modern multinational societies we are faced with a paradox: while some individuals who are loyal to the nation are not permitted to belong, others who belong despise their nation and place their loyalty elsewhere.

The discussion of national loyalty in peacetime and wartime leads to the study of opposing reactions prompted by the introduction of loyalty programmes in the USA in the wake of the persecution and conviction of communist sympathizers during the Cold War period. In considering the tensions between freedom and conformity within Western liberal democracies, I raise some fundamental issues brought about by the growing diversity of political and religious ideas, differing definitions of democracy as well as the coexistence of contradictory loyalties within secular multicultural societies.

Chapter 7 studies the – often neglected – role of emotions in selected processes of political mobilization related to nations, nationalism and national identity. It claims that emotions are

intrinsic to social and political attachments and focuses upon the emotional appeal of belonging to the nation as one of the most powerful agents of political mobilization. The main argument advanced here is that emotions act as a trigger for political mobilization­. This assertion brings to the fore the strong ­emotional dimension of belonging which involves commitment and identification­ with the group. It examines the contrast between emotion and the rational imperatives of market capitalism within the framework defined by the tensions and contradictions created by globalization. It also underlines the ambivalent nature of modern political mobilization by introducing a distinction between what I refer to as ‘liberating’ and ‘regressive’ social movements. It concludes by identifying some of the emotions that become instrumental in the crystallization of political mobilization and draws attention to the construction of what I call ‘healing spaces’: that is, public spaces within which certain emotions can be displayed and dealt with within a given community.

To begin with, the book explores the contrasting relevance of identity in modern as opposed to traditional societies. It considers the challenges and contradictions faced by processes of identity construction within the novel context defined by the consequences of globalization, which include economic insecurity and ­uncertainty, cultural anxiety and political alienation.

1

Identity as a Political

Instrument

Conflicting identities

The burqa is a full-body covering leaving just a mesh screen to see through. It is worn by Muslim women over their clothing in Afghanistan and Pakistan’s Northwest Frontier province and tribal areas; women remove the garment only when they are at home. While the burqa covers the entire face and body, the niqab or face veil covers the virtual totality of the face and hair down to the shoulders, with the slitted exclusion of the eyes, although it may be worn with a separate eye veil. In turn, the hijab refers to a veil covering everything except the hands and the face.1

The burqa is one of many variations of the full-body covering. In Iran, a similar full-body covering is known as the chador. In North Africa, women wear a djellaba or an abaya with a niqab. The result is the same: the full body is cloaked, but the clothing is distinct in each case. While some Muslim women wear them by choice and invoke religious principles and tradition, others use them as a means of protest. However, many women in Afghanistan and parts of Pakistan are compelled to wear the garment following traditional norms or Taliban edicts. The Taliban is a Sunni Muslim2 movement dominated by people of Pashtun ethnic identity, which controlled Afghanistan from 1996 until 2001.

I am using the following example not in any sense to make a moral judgement but as a tool to examine the intersection of

tradition and modernity illustrated by the different meanings attributed to wearing a particular dress in a Western context.

The scene unfolded in Trignac, near Nantes, in the French western Loire-Atlantique region when a woman lawyer took offence at the attire of a fellow-shopper, resulting in an argument during which the pair came to blows before both being arrested. A 26-year-old Muslim convert was walking through the store in Trignac when she overheard the woman lawyer making ‘snide remarks about her black burqa’. A police officer close to the case is quoted noting: ‘The lawyer said she was not happy seeing a fellow shopper wearing a veil and wanted the ban introduced as soon as possible.’3

This incident illustrates the clash of identities and beliefs coexisting within a single society; alternatively it may be viewed as a sign of intolerance and division between different communities. It may be also interpreted as a display of open hostility against Islam, a religion that has already become an integral part of Europe and entered the public sphere, posing some novel questions regarding how to deal with religion in secular multicultural societies.

Above all, this incident points to two main issues: first, the strong emotional component of belonging; and, second, the urge experienced by some people to make a statement about their religious beliefs, or the lack of them, as a fundamental part of their identity. We could even go further and question whether this incident partly reflects the difficulties of the modern nation-state to define and maintain a distinct national identity in the light of rising ethnic and religious diversity within its borders.

Was the woman wearing a burqa considered a ‘stranger’? Was she being targeted because, according to this piece of news, she was a ‘converted’ Muslim – implying that she was probably a French citizen who had decided to abandon the secular nature of French national identity? For this reason, was she regarded as a ‘bad or non-loyal French woman’? To what extent does the strong religious statement associated with wearing a burqa question the principles and values of secular France or any other secular society? Is it compatible to be French and Muslim?

Undoubtedly, some French people see the burqa as posing a fundamental challenge to the secular character of the French République and as a reminder of the perils of allowing religion to become a powerful force within the nation. France was devastated