Revived ethnicities fuse invented tradition with narcissism of minor differences

Evidence

It should be emphasized that this is no simple revival of archaic ethnicities, though such elements persist. Older traces are combined with new, emergent forms of “ethnicity,” which are often a product of uneven globalization and failed modernization. This explosive mix selectively revalorizes older discourses, condensing in a lethal combination what Hobsbawm and Ranger (1993) called “the invention of tradition” with what Michael Ignatieff (1994) has called (after Freud) “the narcissism of minor differences.” (Serbian nationalism and ethnic cleansing in Bosnia and Kosovo are obvious examples.) Their reinvention of the past in the present is reminiscent of the Janus-faced character of nationalist discourse (Nairn 1997). These revivalist movements remain deeply attached to the idea of “the nation.” They see the nation as an engine of modernization and a guarantor of a place in the new world system, at precisely the moment when globalization is bringing the nation-state-driven phase of capitalist modernity to a hesitant close. — Stuart Hall, Essential Essays, Volume 2, 317

Categorization

• XREF: Names Hobsbawm and Ranger on invented tradition and Ignatieff on narcissism of minor differences, both reusable tools in the Islamophobia field for how ethnic nationalism weaponizes nostalgia against globalization.
• DEFINE: Defines how ‘the invention of tradition’ and ‘narcissism of minor differences’ combine in nationalist revivalism, giving the reader two precise theoretical handles.