National identity oscillates between romantic longing and terror at failed belonging

Evidence

Collective identity is based on the (selective) process of memory, so that a given group recognizes itself through its recollection of a common past. From this perspective national identity is a specific form of collective identity, a belonging, which is both a way of being, of social existence, and a longing. Identity thus conceived fluctuates between two poles, “romantic longing” and “terror.” “Romantic longing” involves a hungering for identification with common members, those one takes to be like oneself because social representation has suggested they are. “Terror,” by contrast, is prompted by the inevitable failure to fulfill the membership drive (Goldberg, Musheno, and Bower, 2001). — David Theo Goldberg, John Solomos, A Companion to Racial and Ethnic Studies, 124 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: National identity rests on selective memory and oscillates between longing and terror — David Theo Goldberg, John Solomos, A Companion to Racial and Ethnic Studies, 124; The fear of failed belonging drives identity to slide into nationalism and racism — David Theo Goldberg, John Solomos, A Companion to Racial and Ethnic Studies, 124; National identity can ignite from defeat and subjection rather than flourishing. — Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism, 2259 (+2 more)

Broader Connections

• National identity rests on selective memory and oscillates between longing and terror #corroborates (0.95) — David Theo Goldberg, John Solomos, A Companion to Racial and Ethnic Studies, 124