Book Project
The area that garners the most attention in the realm of territorial disputes (in mainstream political science and IR) is militarized conflict. Much of the territoriality literature then, is heavily securitized (with a focus on high politics). Instead, this book examines the everyday activities of individuals that capitalize on the nationalist sentiment surrounding territorial sovereignty in the marketplace. In its empirical form, this 'business of nationalism' can range from the production (and consumption) of food and drinks popularizing the name of a contentious territory, or clothing that brandishes a controversial logo depicting territorial claims. By using data on trademark applications-- the number of individuals who apply for trademarks that explicitly include the name of a contentious territory in its product or service-- it is possible to gain insight into the scope of the commodification and theorize about its implications for bilateral relations. In fact, an important take-away from the findings on (the rejection of) trademarks is the role that the government plays in not just manipulating nationalism in one direction, but modulating nationalism in both directions. This is a key counter to the intuition about elite instrumentalism and the way that they foster nationalism, as well as a reminder about the possibilities for nationalism to be suppressed, and hence, for relations to stay homeostatic than to necessarily escalate.
Below is just one example of the many neat things you can do with a commodification approach to nationalism. I have plotted efforts --by location-- to commodify nationalism within China surrounding Diaoyu Islands (against Japan). Contact me if you are interested in the specifics!
The area that garners the most attention in the realm of territorial disputes (in mainstream political science and IR) is militarized conflict. Much of the territoriality literature then, is heavily securitized (with a focus on high politics). Instead, this book examines the everyday activities of individuals that capitalize on the nationalist sentiment surrounding territorial sovereignty in the marketplace. In its empirical form, this 'business of nationalism' can range from the production (and consumption) of food and drinks popularizing the name of a contentious territory, or clothing that brandishes a controversial logo depicting territorial claims. By using data on trademark applications-- the number of individuals who apply for trademarks that explicitly include the name of a contentious territory in its product or service-- it is possible to gain insight into the scope of the commodification and theorize about its implications for bilateral relations. In fact, an important take-away from the findings on (the rejection of) trademarks is the role that the government plays in not just manipulating nationalism in one direction, but modulating nationalism in both directions. This is a key counter to the intuition about elite instrumentalism and the way that they foster nationalism, as well as a reminder about the possibilities for nationalism to be suppressed, and hence, for relations to stay homeostatic than to necessarily escalate.
Below is just one example of the many neat things you can do with a commodification approach to nationalism. I have plotted efforts --by location-- to commodify nationalism within China surrounding Diaoyu Islands (against Japan). Contact me if you are interested in the specifics!
Figure 1. Geomapping of 'Diaoyu' Trademarks in China
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