Bookreview Banal Nationalism

Critical Book Review – Book: Banal Nationalism. Author: Michael Billig.

Sebastian Steele

Introduction:

This critical book review will focus on the book Banal Nationalism by Michael Billig.

Michael Billig is currently a Professor of Social Sciences at Loughborough University and has

been so since 1985. The book, Banal Nationalism, received the Myers Centre Award for

"outstanding work on intolerance”.

[http://www.lboro.ac.uk/departments/socialsciences/staff/michael-billig-.html]

The topic of the book regards that of the theory of nationalism. However, it is with a twist.

The twist is that nationalism is viewed from another perspective, which is focused on the

importance of the reminding of nationhood in established nations.

This book review will evaluate the book by critiquing it both positively and negatively. It will

raise the issues that I find the most interesting about the book in a positive sense, and in the

negative sense I will present a critique of what I think was important factors that were not

mentioned.

Summary of the book:

Banal Nationalism is a theory, which I mentioned, that emphasizes the importance of the

reminding of the nationhood in established nations, where there is a constant reminding of

national identity and nationhood belonging. Michael Billig discusses the belonging in his

book as being connected to a collective forgetting which is related to the reminding which

operates mindlessly because the signs of reminding has become a sort of a routine in the

social environment. An interesting question is what the basic characteristics of banal

nationalism is and what is the specific criteria for the continuous reminding of national

identity and nationhood that Billig speaks of. Well, Billig explains that in many small ways

the citizens of a nation are continuously reminded of their national place in a world of nations.

However, and this is a major point in Billig's theory, because that specific reminding is so

familiar, so continuous, it is not consciously registered as a reminding. The key reminding is

not the most obvious of banal reminders (i.e. a flag waved by a soldier) but it is the flag that is

hanging unnoticed on top of a roof top.


Sebastian Steele

Obviously, in nations today there is a collective remembrance but as Billig argues, there is

also a collective forgetting. Billig says that because these reminders or "flaggings" are so

many and so familiar within the social environment that citizens of a given nation operate;

they operate mindlessly rather than mindfully. For example, as mentioned with the flag of on

the top of a building or a small flag in a newspaper. It is not the most obvious ones that

remind us of our belonging, rather the ones that are not obvious, according to Billig. Billig

makes the point that these constant reminders are important because without the reminding,

our national place becomes weaker and we forget where we belong.

Billig's main theory is that nationalism is not understood as well as it should be. The issues of

familiar displays of national identities such as flag waving and the very obvious “flaggings”

have long been ignored. Billig has successfully managed to account for the banal behavior in

which citizens of a nation-state "feel" and "see" their own belonging.

There is an importance in differentiating between two different concepts in Michael Billig

banal nationalism theory which is "waved" vs. "unwaved" flags. There are, as mentioned,

obvious "flaggings", which may be shown to the citizens at a certain event, it is instead the

unnoticed, or "unwaved" if you will, "flaggings" that are the most important in reminding us

of our national belonging. A person walking around in a super market and seeing a national

flag on a milk cart, whilst looking for something else, will spot the flag and then be

unconsciously reminded of her national identity. This is banal nationalism. The obvious

"flagging" of a soldier marching down the street with a flag raised up high is not a mindless

reminding. It does however represent nationhood. Flags nowadays are more of a symbolic

nature than before and Billig says that the symbolism does not have to have a direct emotional

impact of the citizen. When a person sees a flag on a national day or a holiday for example,

there is obviously a set amount of emotions involved but they serve as mindful and conscious

reminders whereas in relating to the activities of walking around in a super market, one is

mindlessly reminded of one's identity and belonging to a certain nation.

Critique:

I will divide this section into two parts – positive and negative critique. By doing this, it will

be easier to read and focus on what a reader might find the most important. By structuring it

this way, it is also easier for the reader to follow the text.


Sebastian Steele

Positive critique:

Michael Billig has managed to explain nationalism on a day-to-day basis of citizens in a well

thought-out way. The book is well-documented and slightly provocative in that it challenges

the original meaning of nationalism and adds another feature which is highly important in

studying any ideology. Billig makes the reader understand the different ways nationalism

works with regards to the banal, which it has not been done before, and therefore contributes

to the understanding of nationalism. By writing this book, Billig has not only challenged the

traditional ways in which we study nationalism as I mentioned before but has also made

people wonder about their own nationalism and how we think about it. Normally, nationalism

is attributed to other nations than your own yet Billig has managed to explain to people that

we are unconsciously reminded of our belonging every day.

Billig presents nationalism as omnipresent, meaning that is always around us. As I mentioned,

he has established that nationalism is often said to be in the hands of other nations but

nationalism can occur at any time or place in a nation. Billig means that if we aim to

understand nationalism of other countries, then we must first understand the nationalism of

our own; the unconscious banal "flaggings" of nationalism in day-to-day life in our own

countries. Billig means that the nation state has not been replaced [which is a common theme

amongst other scholars] but it is only being interpreted in the wrong way. By doing this, he

shows argues that postmodernists and proponents of globalization are not entirely right.

A key positive critique is what Billig actually manages to succeed with in this book and that is

two things: he establishes a conceptualized framework in which we can read and understand

about different forms of nationalism that we have not understood before. Billig also critiques

the status quo of standard social science in a very good way and shows us how this status quo

can be reformulated to address other processes instead. With this book, he explains the oft

taken for granted form of nationalism, which is that of nationalism in everyday life and shows

the meaning behind national pride and saluting the flag. The theory of banal nationalism itself

is easily understood once you have read the book and it opens up a new array of questions that

might have not been there before after reading only Benedict Anderson’s Imagined

Communities for example. It seems like the concept of banal nationalism is a concept which

should have been written years before yet it has not fit into the status quo until now because


Sebastian Steele

the importance of the flag as a symbol did not really occur until a longer “era of peace in the

world” (Post-WWII).

Negative Critique

The key negative critiques that this critical book review will mention is that of sections that I

find that Michael Billig should have mentioned but did not. A small critique will also be of

the book’s structure but I feel that such critique can sometimes be petty and therefore it will

only be mentioned briefly.

A brief mention of the book’s structure is that the book is very, very repetitive. The book

(1995 edition) is 198 pages which I feel is a bit too long to get his point across. In order to

keep the reader entertained and interested, there is not a need for Billig to explain the concept

as many times as he does. As I mentioned earlier, this is petty critique in my mind and

therefore I will not elaborate too much on this and save it for the Conclusion/Personal

Thoughts section, as it has no bearing on whether is a well-written academic good with

excellent arguments.

A main critique against Michael Billig’s Banal Nationalism is the way he mentions Britain in

the “national life” context. Michael Skey mentions this in his critique of Banal Nationalism

and says:” (…) we cannot assume that particular representations of the nation are resonant or

relevant for all (and at all times) whohappen to live within a particular political territory, just

because they are associated with powerful institutional actors or agencies.[ Skey, M. (2009),

The national in everyday life: A critical engagement with Michael Billig's thesis of Banal

Nationalism. The Sociological Review, 57, p342]”. Britain is such a particular case within the

theory of nationalism that it is impossible, as Skey says, to assume that all Brits feel linked to

and are reminded by the “flaggings” that occur on a day-to-day basis. The main critique here

is that Billig failed to mention the concept of national identity within a nation, for example

Scots in England or Irish in England. Their banal “flaggings” might also occur on a day-to-

day basis but not necessarily on the level that Michael Billig explains.

A second major critique is that of banal regionalism. Michael Billig has failed to recognize

and apply his theory of banal nationalism to strong regional identities. For example Catalonia(

and to a lesser degree Skåne), it could be safe to assume that banal “flaggings” on the regional

level mean just as much, if not more, than those of the national level. In a world that many


Sebastian Steele

claim to be postmodern and globalized, Billig has failed to fully grasp this change in the

structure of the world and failed to recognize the strength and importance of regional

identities by leaving them out of his evaluation.

Lastly, another major critique follows along the same lines of the former critique but focuses

this time on the issue of banal supranationalism. The European Union is an ever-growing

established institution which is as, if not more, important from an objective point of view to

the citizens of the EU. It has its own flag, currency, anthem etc. and several other features

which are similar to that of a nation-state. Because of this, the banal supranationalistic

“flaggings” occur within the Union on a same level as the nationalistic “flaggings.” Billig

failed to account for banal supranationalism in his book, thusly, as mentioned, failed to fully

grasp and acknowledge the theories of postmodernism and globalization. Within a European

context, banal “flaggings” of the supranational level occur mindlessly on a day-to-day level

for the citizens. If one has walked through any major European city, they will see countless

banal “flaggings” of the supranational level alongside the national level. Many official

government building employ both the national and supranational flag; some might even go so

far as to include the regional flag as well. The notion of banal supranationalism is highly

relevant to understanding the concept of borders in contemporary Europe.

Lastly, it is difficult to see how his theory of Banal Nationalism holds up post 9/11. Billig

mentions that he thinks wars show the strength of nationalism in a country but never has the

USA been as divided as it has been on its opinions of the War on Terror. This particular war

has not strengthened the nationalism of the country, rather divided it into separate factions.

What Billig has said post 9/11, I have yet to find such comments but it is not suffice to say

that for example because a lot of flags were waved, they represent banal reminding of national

belonging.

Conclusion/Personal Thoughts

Despite the fact that Billig failed to mention key factors within his own theory of banal

nationalism, it could be easily defended by him saying that he choose to focus on banal

nationalism as a starting point. This would be a valid argument if it was not for the fact that he

has not mentioned the concepts of banal regionalism or banal supranationalism in his other


Sebastian Steele

works. One must also take into consideration that this book was first released in 1995 and

much has changed since. The European Union is more integrated, international security

regarding borders has changed and we live in a post 9/11 world. Although it would be

impossible for Billig to predict 9/11, and the resulting activities, he could have foreseen a

deepening of the European Union’s integration.

References

Billig, M. (1995). Banal Nationalism. London: Sage Publications.

Skey, M. (2009), the national in everyday life: A critical engagement with Michael

Billig's thesis of Banal Nationalism. The Sociological Review, 57: 331–346.

http://www.lboro.ac.uk/departments/socialsciences/staff/michael-billig-.html

/By Sebastian Steele

http://www.lboro.ac.uk/departments/socialsciences/staff/michael-billig-.html

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Bookreview Banal Nationalism