Saturday, March 14, 2020

Territorial Identity essays

Territorial Identity essays Territorial identity is a feeling that have in common a group of people (territorial community), which is a clear definition of their territory. In fact, people don not relate themselves to a territory, but to its institutions, economic system, goals, and its destiny. The Territorial identity has two forces that are contradictory. The first one is the power to unify, while the second is the power to divide. It is the Nationalism or territorial identity that unified the German territory, which was initially divided into several politically and economically independent regions like Prussia and Bavaria. Fortunately, the leader of Prussia, Bismarck tried to indoctrinate the Germans with a national feeling. Although Bismarck could have had purely personal reasons (extending his rule and power), he is regarded in Germany as a hero and a successful leader. This strategy is still used by modern nation-states trough ideological state apparatus like flags, money, stamps, schools textbooks, and national anthems. In Morocco, in 1975, the king Hassan II organized the green walk, la marche verte. This walk was widely supported by the Moroccans because of this feeling that is territorial identity. In Morocco, Nationalism was used to unify Moroccans under the rule of the king Hassan the second. If Nationalism were used only to unify, I would have supported it unconditionally. As Dochacek stated : a territorial nation state is still considered a more efficient instrument than any alternative for coping with mens collective problems: it protects them against external dangers (or so they believe); maintains the internal order, and, taking up the collective challenges of modern economy and technology... social progress. In some cases, the territorial identity uses its other force, which the capability to divide. To better illustrate this case, I would state the example of Basque nationalists that aggreg ...