Ruling Tactics

Brian Martin Ruling Tactics Tactics Ruling Martin Brian Most people think of the world as divided into countries, and many people identify with their “own” country. Because Ruling tactics there’s nothing natural in this, governments and others need to continually encourage identification with the nation. This serves those with power and wealth. Methods of promoting everyday Ruling Tactics outlines the methods commonly used to foster nationalism, how they serve rulers everyday nationalism and how they can be countered. These and how to oppose them methods are described in a range of areas, including crime, sport, language, economics, terrorism and war. Ruling Tactics can serve as a practical manual for recognising how thinking is oriented towards the state, and how this sort of Brian Martin thinking can be changed. The author Brian Martin is an honorary professorial fellow at the University of Wollongong, Australia. He is the author of 15 books and hundreds of articles on dissent, nonviolent action, scientific controversies, democracy and other topics. ISBN 978-91-88061-17-1 90000 7891889 061171 Ω Ω Irene Publishing ! Ruling tactics Methods of promoting everyday nationalism, how they serve rulers and how to oppose them Brian Martin CONTENTS 1 Introduction 1 Published 2017 by Irene Publishing Sparsnäs, Sweden 2 Moral foundations 9 http://www.irenepublishing.com/ 3 Nationalism 21 [email protected] 4 Crime 40 5 Sport 57 6 Spying and surveillance 76 ISBN 978-91-88061-17-1 7 Terrorism 97 8 Language 114 9 Citizenship 125 10 Our economy 138 11 Trade deals and tax havens 154 12 The psychology of rule 173 13 War 200 14 Investigating tactics 251 Index 256 Acknowledgements 1 Over many decades, numerous individuals have helped me better understand the topics covered in this book. It is truly Introduction a gift to be able to share ideas with others and be part of an ongoing conversation. Over several years I presented extracts from work in Many people love their country. They think it’s the progress to members of the high-output writing group at greatest. It’s the place where they want to live. They the University of Wollongong. For their helpful textual defend it against criticism. They may even be willing to suggestions and feedback on content, I thank Paula die or kill for it. Arvela, Emma Barkus, Anu Bissoonauth-Bedford, Trent Some phrases indicate unwavering loyalty. A US Brown, Rae Campbell, Nicole Carrigan, Kathy Flynn, example is “My country, right or wrong.” Others phrases Xiaoping Gao, Alfie Herrero de Haro, Anneleis condemn those who are disloyal. In the US, “unAmerican” Humphries, Jann Karp, Michael Matteson, Anne Melano, is a term of contempt, and social critics may be told, Ben Morris, Anco Peeters, Mark Richardson, Holly “Love it or leave it.” Tootell, Wendy Varney, Jody Watts, Malcolm Whittaker, However, even among critics, feelings of national Angela Williams, Amy Conley Wright and Tshering pride or identification are common. When it’s time for the Yangden. World Cup, how many soccer fans cheer for a team from a For valuable feedback on specific chapters or points, country where they have never lived nor have any family I thank Michael Billig, Jules Boykoff, John Breuilly, or personal connections? How many people care more Aloysia Brooks, Louise Cook-Tonkin, Giliam de Valk, about the economic prosperity of people in Bangladesh or Sharif Gemie, Richard Gosden, Richard Jackson, Jørgen Togo than those in the country where they live? Johansen, Jason MacLeod, Andrew Rigby, Mary Scott, Thinking from the viewpoint of a country—including Janjira Sombutpoonsiri, Sharon Callaghan and Steve its people, its government and its social institutions—can Wright. My greatest thanks go to Tom Weber, who generate enormous passions. This commitment could be generously scrutinised the entire manuscript and called patriotism or nationalism, but it is broader than offered invaluable advice and support. this—it is a way of understanding the world and one’s place in it. There’s no good word to describe this sort of thinking. It might be called “countryism,” except there’s more involved than the country. A key part of the equation is 2 Ruling tactics Introduction 3 the link between loyalty to and identification with a embedded within a country. My assumption is that state- country and loyalty to and identification with the govern- centred thinking is not natural or automatic, but has to be ment and its related functions, commonly called the state. forged and continually reinforced in relation to other These are certainly not the same. You might love a commitments. By recognising and understanding the tech- country and hate its government. But government support- niques involved, it may be easier to question, challenge ers have another agenda: they want to tie country loyalties and replace them. to support for dominant social arrangements, including the In doing this, I do not assume love of country is government itself and, more generally, the distribution of always bad. Sometimes it serves noble purposes, as in wealth and power. This doesn’t come naturally, so a lot of willingness to support others in need. In many cases it is effort is devoted to shaping the way people think about the unimportant, as in choosing what clothes to wear. My world. This includes thinking of the world as naturally concern is about country-centred thinking when it is being divided into countries ruled by governments, not exploited to serve damaging activities, for example questioning the distribution of wealth and power in any constructing weapons of mass destruction or exploiting fundamental way, and not pushing for radical alternatives. foreigners. Scholars have analysed patriotism and nationalism, Why tactics are needed and in chapter 3 I discuss the work of a few of them. My In human prehistory, people lived in small bands, aim here is more practical, namely to highlight some of probably no larger than one or two hundred people. In the day-to-day efforts and activities that reinforce country- these groups, loyalty could be vital for survival, so it is centrism and to suggest this is not something inherent in plausible that humans are predisposed to form group humans but rather one possible way loyalties can be loyalties. In today’s world, though, the groups are much assigned. larger. Instead of a hundred people, where you know The next step is to point to alternative ways of everyone else and have many close personal bonds, today assigning loyalties. Again, many have argued for alterna- many countries have millions of residents. Loyalty is now tives. For example, rather than the United Nations, which to an abstraction, a group of symbols, rather than attached is built around states, some globalists have supported a to individuals you interact with daily. How did the human world parliament. Then there are individuals who try to predisposition towards group loyalty become reoriented to transcend their formal citizenship and instead think and country-level emotional commitments? act as global citizens. Out of the multitude of alternatives, My aim here is to illustrate some of the techniques I focus on those that involve greater freedom, equality and used to build identification with dominant social institu- justice. tions—including inequalities in wealth and power—as 4 Ruling tactics Introduction 5 After this, the following step is to look again at System-support tactics tactics, this time at tactics to counter ruling tactics and 1. Exposure (of positives); attention instead promote alternatives. The number of possible 2. Valuing examples is huge, so I proceed by looking at particular 3. Positive interpretation arenas, for example sport and language, looking at two 4. Endorsement sorts of tactics. Firstly there are counter-tactics, challeng- 5. Rewards ing ruling tactics, and secondly there are tactics to promote alternatives. System-support tactics: opposing challenges and My main aim is to show an approach to analysing alternatives tactics. After you start noticing the use of everyday 1. Cover-up methods to promote patriotism or to encourage thinking of 2. Devaluing the world as a set of countries, you are in a better position 3. Negative interpretation to recognise alternatives and to understand strategies for 4. Discrediting endorsements resistance and building alternatives. Whether to join these 5. Intimidation efforts of course is a matter of choice. Chapter 2 describes research on “moral foundations” Opposing system-support tactics that is useful for putting ruling tactics in context. Chapter 1. Exposure (of negatives) 3 discusses ideas from a few key writings about national- 2. Devaluing ism. In subsequent chapters, I canvass various areas where 3. Negative interpretation ruling tactics can be observed in everyday life. These 4. Discrediting endorsements chapters can be read independently. As will be seen, the 5. Refusing rewards patterns are similar, though the arenas involved are quite different. My aim is less to provide a comprehensive case Promoting alternatives than to show how an analysis of tactics can proceed. Other 1. Exposure possible areas for analysis include disability, disease, em- 2. Valuing ployment, environment, gender, history and technology. 3. Positive interpretation Chapters 4 to 13 each begin with a general discussion 4. Endorsement of the issues, followed by an examination of specific 5. Rewards tactics, using some of the following categories. 6 Ruling tactics Introduction 7 My interest is not just in the more ardent forms of national massacre undermined the South African government’s chauvinism but more generally in how people think of the credibility internationally.2 world in terms of countries and their governments, what However, instances in which government repression Michael Billig calls “banal nationalism.”1 I chose the title is counterproductive are rare. I started looking at the Ruling Tactics because thinking in terms of nations serves methods used by governments to reduce outrage, and rulers.

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