5.1 Overview

Introduction

In the previous two lessons, you read about the nature of identity as it is conceptualized within geography; lived experiences of identity and being misidentified; and about the ways that borders and identity interact, with an emphasis on geopolitical consequences of drawing and representing borders and labeling disputed territory. In this lesson, we focus our attention on the ways that group identities in the form of nations are territorialized and politicized through nationalism.

Objectives

Upon completion of this lesson, you will be able to:

1. Compare nationalism and terrorism in foreign and domestic contexts.
2. Evaluate the ways that states, separatist groups, and terrorist organizations use nationalist rhetoric in staking claims to territory.
3. Critique the appearance and use of banal nationalism in everyday life.
4. Evaluate the ways that ideologies become territorialized.