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Narratives of Legitimacy: Making Nationalism Banal

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Everyday Nationhood

Abstract

The chapter examines a set of strategic narratives by which national interests and values are successfully maintained among various populations. Such narratives are “banal” in the sense that they are deliberately not labeled nationalist. They derive their power by obscuring the ways national interests and values are reproduced in various political and cultural activities: in transnational or so-called global initiatives; in technical infrastructures; in cross-cutting forms of allegiance. Drawing on Monroe Price’s concept of “narratives of legitimacy,” the chapter examines the ways that nationalism is reinforced in our time, illustrating how it works to justify certain discourses and practices and marginalize others.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Rutgers University, New Brunswick, USA

    Melissa Aronczyk

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  1. Melissa Aronczyk
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Correspondence to Melissa Aronczyk .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Loughborough, United Kingdom

    Michael Skey

  2. Loughborough, United Kingdom

    Marco Antonsich

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Aronczyk, M. (2017). Narratives of Legitimacy: Making Nationalism Banal. In: Skey, M., Antonsich, M. (eds) Everyday Nationhood. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-57098-7_12

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-57098-7_12

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-137-57097-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-137-57098-7

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