/483/ Reading Club: Why Invent Traditions?

On the mass-production of loyalty.

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The second reading in this block on Inter/Nationalism in the 21st Century is The Invention of Tradition (eds. Eric Hobsbawm & Terrence Ranger, 1983), specifically Hobsbawm's chapter "Mass-Producing Traditions: Europe 1870-1914".

• How much did ordinary people buy into invented national traditions?

• Why did industrialisation allow for mass-producing traditions?

• Does the sense of belonging fostered then still exist today?

• If nation-states don't require active participation any more, what does this mean for the mass-production of loyalty?

• Are things like social media campaigns, national holidays for diversity, or even global events like the Olympics the new “mass-produced” traditions?