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28 / 07 / 2004
Josep Fontana: “Nation-state nationalists should look at themselves in the mirror before talking about cultural nationalists”
Fontana, a History professor at Pompeu Fabra University in Barcelona, stated that, contrary to state nationalism, nationalism that is understood as a collective awareness is based on cultural identity rather than symbols.
Josep Fontana, History professor at Pompeu Fabra University said, this morning at the Dialogue “Globalization, Identity, Diversity”, that, “nation-state nationalists should look themselves in the mirror before talking about cultural nationalists.” In his speech at the conference entitled “Cultural Identity in a Globalized World”, Fontana mentioned that, “nation-states are comprised of cultural dimensions with a political substratum; they are the result of wars and have caused many deaths.”
According to Fontana, “the historical construction of national identity…the official national history, a particularly European concept, is artificial and focuses on stirring up patriotic sentiments, and is used to promote patriotism that is disguised as nationalism.”
Fontana holds that, whereas nation-sates use symbols—mostly female figures and symbols of maternity that are emotional moving for their subjects ---, “nationalism in the sense of a collective awareness is based on cultural identity, rather than symbols.”
Fontana also claims that, “history is always the genealogy of a specific social project, and it is not acceptable to use it as a tool for indoctrination.”
In his speech, Fontana also pointed out the multinational sate model, in which all cultural identities live together and are respected, as an alternative to the state-nation model, which seeks to homogenize culture, language, and tradition.
The Dialogue “Globalization, Identity, Diversity” will run through to July 29 at the Forum.
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