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'Memory, Trauma and Genocidal Nationalism'

Ray, Larry J. (1999) 'Memory, Trauma and Genocidal Nationalism'. Sociological Research Online, 4 (2). ISSN 1360-7804. (The full text of this publication is not currently available from this repository. You may be able to access a copy if URLs are provided) (KAR id:38796)

The full text of this publication is not currently available from this repository. You may be able to access a copy if URLs are provided.
Official URL:
http://www.socresonline.org.uk/4/2/ray.html

Abstract

Nationalism poses several analytical problems for sociology, since it stands at the intersection of familiar binary conceptual contrasts. It further has the capacity to appear alternatively democratic and violent. This paper examines the conditions for violent nationalism, with particular reference to the Kosovo conflict. It argues that the conditions for potentially genocidal nationalism lie in the apparently routine rituals through which 'nations' are remembered and constructed. Violent nationalism may appear where the transmission of collective identities is infused with mourning and traumatic memory. However, the presence of such forms of memory is not sufficient in themselves to provoke violent nationalism. These are unleashed in the context of state crisis where former loyalties are replaced with highly affective commitment to rectification of imagined historical wrongs.

Item Type: Article
Uncontrolled keywords: Ethnic Violence; Kosovo; Memory; Nationalism; Ritual
Subjects: H Social Sciences
Divisions: Divisions > Division for the Study of Law, Society and Social Justice > School of Social Policy, Sociology and Social Research
Depositing User: Mita Mondal
Date Deposited: 17 Mar 2014 14:03 UTC
Last Modified: 16 Nov 2021 10:15 UTC
Resource URI: https://kar.kent.ac.uk/id/eprint/38796 (The current URI for this page, for reference purposes)

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