The construction of national identities, the cases of Chile and England

Denisse Sepúlveda Sánchez

In recent years there has been growing international concern about social, political and economic crisis. In global terms this means individual and collective social identities have been changing, especially in European countries such as England, Greece, and Spain. However, these crises also affect developing countries such as those in Latin America. These developed and developing countries, as an answer to social and economic crisis, are adopting new radical positions about their identities; in particular they are reinforcing national values in opposite to foreign and native people. For that reason, people have been creating new radical groups which defend their nationalistic ideas. The issue of nationalism has always been a controversial subject in society which may provoke intolerance, racism and violence among people from different origins. Therefore, nationalism may be a dangerous course to take to preserve the idea of State-Nation.

This presentation will focus on how Chile and England construct their national identities. Hence, it is proposed to analyze how nationalism shapes national and local identities. On the one hand, in the case of Chile, this research will examine how the radical Mapuches native group (Coordinadora Arauco-Malleco) has tried to recover the idea of nation, while Chilean society does not recognize their ethnic origin from the Mapuches. On the other hand, in the case of England, this paper will consider how radical groups (National Front, British National Party and The English Defense League) protect their national identities. This radical discourse appears justified for a minority during economic and social crisis.

This paper has been organized in the following way. Firstly, it will describe and define the evolution of nationalism. Secondly, it will describe from historical point of view the relationship between radical movements and social, economic and political context. Finally, it will analyze differences and similarities between the Chile and England cases.