National and Community Identity

Module title	National and Community Identity
Module code	POC2018
Academic year	2023/4
Credits	15
Module staff	Dr Joanie Willett (Convenor)

Duration: Term	1	2	3
Duration: Weeks		11

Number students taking module (anticipated)	25

Module description

Identity politics is a topic which infuses all levels of political debate, from big questions around ethnicity and race, to smaller, and more subtle questions, such as what can I absorb into my identity? This latter puzzle carries enormous implications that reverberate throughout both domestic and global politics. In this module you will explore how identities function both within communities and groups, but also regarding an individuals sense of self, and what problems and possibilities this opens.

The first part of the module develops a range of theoretical tools, which later are applied to specific and topical case studies, encouraging students to think critically around some ‘taken for granted’ issues.

Whilst prior studies of politics would be an advantage (particularly around political analysis, international studies and policy), interdisciplinary students would also find this a satisfying topic within which to engage.

Module aims - intentions of the module

This module explores the politics of identity, through the concepts of memory, belonging, otherness and difference.

In practical terms, it introduces students to the idea of communities as imagined narratives which have a function within society, which is extended to national identity where we consider questions relating to the extent to which identity is learned or an accident of birth. The module next takes in the idea that identity is not just about ‘belonging to’, but also about asserting ‘difference from’ other groups. This, and belonging has an impact not just on how groups see themselves, but also how they are perceived by others which affects the kinds of opportunities and courses for action that lie open to group members. The effects of this have impacts throughout local, national and global politics, extending to the terms of political discourse and social justice.

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)

ILO: Module-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

1. demonstrate a substantive understanding of the importance that identity plays for individuals and communities, and the impact that this has locally and globally.

ILO: Discipline-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

2. use primary and secondary sources to identify and construct arguments on a policy and theoretical level. They will also be able to make informed judgements about the implications of abstract concepts, and assess possible outcomes.
3. Understand and apply key concepts around the politics of identity

ILO: Personal and key skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

4. formulate complex arguments about theory and policy, with clarity and precision in written and oral presentations.
5. formulate their own conclusions based on differing forms of evidence.

Syllabus plan

Whilst the precise content may vary from year to year, it is envisaged that the syllabus will cover all or some of the following topics:

Imagining the community and narratives of identity.

The function of identity

National identities

The politics of memory

Identity and ‘difference’,

The construction of difference.

Power, rurality, and the politics of representation.

Case Study : Cornish Nationalism.

Case Study : Britain and the legacy of colonialism..

Case Study: Europe, the nation, and refugees

Identity and political discourse.

Learning activities and teaching methods (given in hours of study time)

Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities	Guided independent study	Placement / study abroad
22	128	0

Details of learning activities and teaching methods

Category	Hours of study time	Description
Scheduled Learning and teaching activity	11	11 x 1 hour lectures
Scheduled Learning and teaching activity	11	11 x 1-hour seminars, some of which will be student led with formal presentations and student facilitation of discussion
Guided Independent study	5	Preparation for student led seminar
Guided Independent study	40	Preparation for 1st Essay (summative)
Guided Independent study	40	Preparation for 2nd Essay (summative)
Guided Independent study	43	Private study

Formative assessment

Form of assessment	Size of the assessment (eg length / duration)	ILOs assessed	Feedback method
Reflection on student led seminar	300 words per student	All	Written and verbal feedback on review

Summative assessment (% of credit)

Coursework	Written exams	Practical exams
100	0	0

Details of summative assessment

Form of assessment	% of credit	Size of the assessment (eg length / duration)	ILOs assessed	Feedback method
Essay	60	2,200 words	All	Written and verbal feedback on review
Essay	40	1,250 words	All	Written and verbal feedback on review
	0
	0
	0
	0

Details of re-assessment (where required by referral or deferral)

Original form of assessment	Form of re-assessment	ILOs re-assessed	Timescale for re-assessment
Essay	Essay (2,200 words)	All	August\September reassessment period
Essay	Essay (1,250 words)	All	August\September reassessment period

Indicative learning resources - Basic reading

Basic reading:

Anderson, B. Imagined Communities; Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism (London: Verso, 1991, Revised Edition).

Connolly, W. Identity/Difference: Democratic Negotiations of Political Paradox, (London, Cordell University Press, 1991)

Croucher, S. 2018. Globalization and Belonging: The Politics of Identity in a Changing World Rowman and Littlefield.

Durkheim, E. Suicide, A Study in Sociology (London: Routledge, 1987 [1897]).

Eriksson, M. 2008. (Re)Producing a ‘peripheral’ region – Northern Sweden in the news. Geografiska Annaler Series B 90 (4) pp. 369–388.

Gilroy, P., 2013. There Ain’t No Black in the Union Jack: The Cultural Politics of Race and Nation. Routledge Classics

Freud, S. Civilization and Its Discontents (London: Penguin Books, 2004 [1930]).

L, Hinchman., S, Hinchman (eds) Memory, Identity, Community; The Idea of Narrative in the Human

Sciences (New York: State University of New York Press, 2001).

Hutchinson, J. Nations as Zones of Conflict (London: Sage Publications, 2005).

Lawson, T., 2014. Memorializing Colonial Genocide in Britain: The Case of Tasmania. Journal of Genocide Research 16 (4). 441-461

Modood, T., 2013. Multiculturalism.

Norton, A. Reflections on Political Identity (London: John Hopkins, 1988).

Nietzsche, F. On the Genealogy of Morality, K, Ansell-Pearson (ed) (Cambridge: Cambridge Texts in the History of Political Thought, (1994) [1887]).

Said, E. Orientalism (London: Penguin Books, 2003).

Smith, A. Nationalism and Modernism (Oxon: Routledge, 1998).

Tonnies, F. Community and association : Gemeinschaft und Gesellschaft (Imprint London : Routledge & K.Paul, 1955).

Payton, P (ed) Cornish Studies Series 1-18, University of Exeter Press.

Viet Thanh Nguyen. 2016. Nothing Ever Dies: Vietnam and the Memory of War. Harvard University Press

Willett, J. 2016. The Production of Place: Perception, Reality, and the Politics of Becoming Political Studies 64 (2) 436-451.

Zack, N. 2018. Reviving the Social Compact: Inclusive Citizenship in an Age of Extreme Politics. Rowman and Littlefield

Indicative learning resources - Web based and electronic resources

Web-based and electronic resources:

ELE (Exeter Learning Environment (Moodle)) – College to provide hyperlink to appropriate pages

Key words search

National Community, Identity, Politics, Ethnicity

Credit value	15
Module ECTS	7.5
Module pre-requisites	None
Module co-requisites	None
NQF level (module)	5
Available as distance learning?	No
Origin date	01/10/2011
Last revision date	10/02/2023