Sep 23, 2009

Nationalism and Facebook


All right, I know many of us who studied East Europe and Eurasia at some point had to read about Brubaker's "triadic nexus" for nationalism, which includes "dynamic interdependence," a newly emergent "nationalizing state," and an external "national homeland" state of the expatriate "national minority." And while some have argued a quadratic nexus, I don't believe such term has ever been published or attributed to any scholar. So today, whether you support the triadic or the quadratic nexus, I'm going to blow your mind. There's another field to consider in the nexus: Facebook.

According to CNN, the "Where do you live?" field on Facebook has caused some contraversy, because it seems Facebook recognizes states and not nations. This is causing a problem for people in disputed zones and oppressed regions worldwide - Palestine and Tibet, for example. How does it affect our region? You guessed it. Let's go to the Caucasus.

Abkhazia is not a country option on Facebook, and the Abkhaz capital Sukhumi is listed as being in Georgia. As a result, two pro-independence Abkhaz Facebook groups have about 1,200 members between them. Thanks for intensifying nationalism, Facebook. What are your thoughts on Rational Choice Theory?

6 comments:

Pirates(and)Diplomats said...

A pentagonal nexus?

Ah, Brubaker...

(BTW, the same issue is unfolding in the Golan Heights. Is it Syria or Israel? Etc.)

Ern said...

Yeah, it affects a ton of places. Disputed areas between India and Pakistan; where is Jerusalem?; What is this East Turkistan you speak of?

LIVLIVS MAXIMVS said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Raphael Tsavkko Garcia said...

Theres a huge movement among the Basques and Catalans for Facebook in Catalan and in Euskara and also tehre's a pledge for the possibility of choosing Euskal Herria and Catalunya as homelands instead of Spain.

The internet has been used for quite some time as a pressure tool for nationalist movements and individuals and the situation of Abkhazia, South Ossetia and Kosovo need further study.

What do we consider a State? Abkhazia has been recognized by 2 countries, so it is a State or not? Kosovo also has been recognized by many, so why it is not a State within some websites?

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