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Re-Branding a Nation Online: Discourses on Polish Nationalism and Patriotism

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Re-Branding a Nation Online: Discourses on Polish Nationalism and Patriotism Re-Branding a Nation Online Re-Branding a Nation Online Discourses on Polish Nationalism and Patriotism Magdalena Kania-Lundholm Dissertation presented at Uppsala University to be publicly examined in Sal IX, Universitets- huset, Uppsala, Friday, October 26, 2012 at 10:15 for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. The examination will be conducted in English. Abstract Kania-Lundholm, M. 2012. Re-Branding A Nation Online: Discourses on Polish Nationalism and Patriotism. Sociologiska institutionen. 258 pp. Uppsala. ISBN 978-91-506-2302-4. The aim of this dissertation is two-fold. First, the discussion seeks to understand the concepts of nationalism and patriotism and how they relate to one another. In respect to the more criti- cal literature concerning nationalism, it asks whether these two concepts are as different as is sometimes assumed. Furthermore, by problematizing nation-branding as an “updated” form of nationalism, it seeks to understand whether we are facing the possible emergence of a new type of nationalism. Second, the study endeavors to discursively analyze the ”bottom-up” processes of national reproduction and re-definition in an online, post-socialist context through an empirical examination of the online debate and polemic about the new Polish patriotism. The dissertation argues that approaching nationalism as a broad phenomenon and ideology which operates discursively is helpful for understanding patriotism as an element of the na- tionalist rhetoric that can be employed to study national unity, sameness, and difference. Emphasizing patriotism within the Central European context as neither an alternative to nor as a type of nationalism may make it possible to explain the popularity and continuous endur- ance of nationalism and of practices of national identification in different and changing con- texts. Instead of facing a new type of nationalism, we can then speak of new forms of en- gagement which take place in cyberspace that contribute to the process of reproduction of nationalism. The growing field of nation-branding, with both its practical and political impli- cations, is presented as one of the ways in which nationalism is reproduced and maintained as a form of “soft” rather than “hard” power within the global context. The concept of nation re- branding is introduced in order to account for the role that citizens play in the process of nation branding, which has often been neglected in the literature. This concept is utilized to critically examine, understand, and explain the dynamics of nation brand construction and re- definition, with a particular focus on the discursive practices of citizens in cyberspace. It is argued that citizens in the post-socialist countries, including Poland, can engage in the process of nation re-branding online. It is also argued that this process of online nation re-branding may legitimately be regarded as a type of civic practice through which citizens connect with each other and reproduce a form of cultural national intimacy. The results of the analysis of the online empirical material illustrate that nation re- branding is a complex, dynamic, and ambivalent phenomenon. It involves a process of dis- cursive negotiation of nation and of national identity, but also challenges, dismantles, and transforms the national image as it is communicated both internally and externally. This re- veals nation re-branding as an element in the post-socialist transformation from a ”nation” to a ”Western,” ”modern,” and ”normal” country in which dealing with an ”old” nation brand is as equally important as the introduction of the new brand. Nationalism does not disappear in the digital age, but rather becomes part of the new way of doing politics online, whereby citizens are potentially granted a form of agency in the democratic process. Keywords: nationalism, patriotism, nation branding, nation re-branding, cyberspace, Poland, post-socialist transformation, cultural national intimacy Magdalena Kania-Lundholm, Uppsala University, Department of Sociology, Box 624, SE-751 26 Uppsala, Sweden. © Magdalena Kania-Lundholm 2012 ISBN 978-91-506-2302-4 urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-180903 (http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-180903) To my Grandparents Dziadkom Contents Acknowledgements ....................................................................................... 11 CHAPTER 1 | INTRODUCTION ................................................................. 13 Aims .......................................................................................................... 19 Study outline ............................................................................................. 20 CHAPTER 2 | NATIONALISM AND PATRIOTISM: TOWARDS AN UNDERSTANDING OF THE TWO CONCEPTS ............................... 21 From idea to nation ................................................................................... 22 From nation to nationalism ....................................................................... 24 Nationalism and politics ...................................................................... 25 Nationalism and culture ....................................................................... 27 Two types of nationalism ..................................................................... 30 Towards critical approaches: nationalism as discourse and ideology ...... 34 Nationalism as means for discursive reproduction .............................. 34 Nationalism as ideology ....................................................................... 36 Patriotism as an alternative to nationalism ............................................... 38 Shifting focus: nationalism and patriotism in Central Europe ................. 44 Liberal nationalism and culture ........................................................... 46 Culturalism ........................................................................................... 49 Patriotism and nation in the Central European context ....................... 52 Nationalism or Patriotism? Towards an understanding in the Central European context ...................................................................................... 56 CHAPTER 3 | CHALLENGING NATIONALISM: NATION AS A BRAND ..................................................................................................... 59 Nation branding: perspectives and practical implications ........................ 61 The emergence of theoretical perspectives on nation branding ............... 65 Challenging the “social imagery”: nation and nationhood redefined .. 68 Branding Central Europe .......................................................................... 70 Nation re-branding: nation brands as objects of debate ........................... 72 Communicating the nation: internal and external perspectives ........... 75 Problematizing nation branding as an aspect of problematizing transition ................................................................................................... 78 CHAPTER 4 | POLAND: A COUNTRY IN NEED OF A NEW NATION BRAND ........................................................................................ 82 Poland: historical overview ...................................................................... 82 Patriotic matters: patriotic traditions in the history of Polish nationalism ................................................................................................ 84 National will ......................................................................................... 85 National idea ........................................................................................ 86 National interest ................................................................................... 89 The Catholic narrative of the Polish nation .............................................. 90 Communist times: between the Church and the State ......................... 92 The Pope: the ‘Polish hero’ .................................................................. 95 The “Generation JP2” .......................................................................... 97 The post-communist transition in Poland ................................................. 99 Establishing the “new Poland” ............................................................. 99 Political aspects of transition ............................................................. 102 Internal “othering”: winners and losers of transformation ................ 103 The defeat of Solidarity and the victory of the populists ................... 105 From political struggles to culture wars ............................................. 106 The collective identity crisis: looking for new national narratives ........ 108 Branding Poland by experts ............................................................... 112 Poland: between the internal and external perspectives .................... 115 CHAPTER 5 | CYBERSALONS AS ARENAS FOR CULTURAL NATIONAL INTIMACY ........................................................................... 117 Virtual sphere: potentials and limitations ............................................... 119 Places in cyberspace: the emergence of cybersalons ......................... 122 Online voices: practicing citizenship ................................................. 124 National cybersalons: political activism and virtual nations .................. 126 Political activism and the mobilization of national groups ................ 126 Virtually connected: the emergence of nations online
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