National Identity In The Context Of Globalization

The concept of national identity didn't appear in the area of politics until during the behaviorist revolution in 1970s. However, this not-well-defined concept, has not been attached enough importance against the scientific methodology in the field of social research. Along with the third wave of democracy in the global community and the collapse of the Socialist countries of Soviet Union and the East Europe, the stability and integrity of many countries were challenged and they had to choose a new self-orientation and self-positioning; furthermore, the more rapid process of globalization had a strong impact on the traditional concept of national sovereignty. The issue of national identity became an important problem. The formal but weak independence characterized many developing countries and made them in conflict and crisis, which in turn affected their external behavior and even their survival. And it seems to be a long-term effect in future. What is wrong with these countries? How is it related to the current international system? How do the existing theories of international relations deal with it? Although it is formulated by many factors, it indicates the unfinished process of nation-building and even the absence or loss of the identification for the nation by some portion of their people; however, the disadvantaged position in international system makes even more difficult to build a new national identity. The existing theories of international relations are formulated with Western nation-state as their building block and immersed in the assumption of West Centralism, giving no enough consideration to developing countries and their effect on international community. The Constructivism analyses the formation and change of national identity at an international level and doesn't deal with it at a domestic level and the interaction between the identity from domestic and international areas. The national identity, as a mental system, is an outcome mixed by rational and irrational ingredients. In the long intellectual development, the rationalistic respect of this phenomenon has been elaborated but seldom scholars explore the irrational factors such as need, emotion and belief of people. This paper is aimed to explore the irrational factors affecting the formation and change of national identity of developing countries and discuss about the roots that make national identity a problem, and the great impact on the existing theories of international relations. The paper attempts to answer: in what dilemma, in the context of globalization, are the developing countries when they are building their own national identity? How do they balance the efforts to build a nation-state and to be globalized? This is a difficult question, both theoretically and practically, in the development of international community. In the perspective of social psychology, this paper makes a research in combination of personal cognitive mentality, his social practice and identification, and an exploration into the relationship between national identity and international politics to find out the flaws of existing IR theories. Besides, this paper tries to make a case study of china's national identity. The 4 chapters of the main body of this paper are as follows: The role of Chapter I is to make a definition of national identity and its nature, and a general analysis of the process of building the national identity. Firstly, this chapter, by analyzing the personal identity, collective identity and their drives, makes a conclusion that the successful identity is closely related to the satisfaction of people's needs. Secondly, it defines this concept of national identity in its relationship with political legitimacy. Finally, it makes a comparative study, in the historical practice, of the building process of national identities between West and Non-West countries. Chapter II makes a review of the existing IR theories in the perspective of national identity and a demonstration of the national identity in the development of IR theories. The e...