The Moral Boundaries of the Nation: The Constitution of National Identity in the South Eastern Border Counties of Ireland

Ethnopolitics, Vol. 5, No. 4, pp. 365-382, 2006

39 Pages Posted: 24 Jul 2012

See all articles by Jennifer Todd

Jennifer Todd

University College Dublin (UCD) - School of Politics and International Relations, Dublin

Orla Muldoon

affiliation not provided to SSRN

Karen F. Trew

Queen's University Belfast - School of Psychology

Lorenzo Bottos

affiliation not provided to SSRN

Nathalie Rougier

affiliation not provided to SSRN

Katrina McLaughlin

Resources for the Future

Date Written: February 24, 2006

Abstract

This article argues that nationalism is more varied in the way that it constructs its boundaries than contemporary scholarship suggests. In an interdisciplinary, multi-stranded qualitative study of ethno-national identity on the Southern side of the Irish border, it shows the moral repertoires that qualify, conflict with, and on occasion replace, territorial-ethnic and state-centred aspects of national identity. It refocuses attention on the cultural and normative content of imagined national communities, and the different ways in which general norms function in particular communal contexts. It casts a new light on Southern attitudes to Irish unity. More generally, it suggests that a form of moral nationalism is possible, distinct from the forms more typically discussed in the literature: ethnic, civic, trans nationalism or even banal nationalism.

Keywords: nation, state, border, Ireland, Europe, moral repertoires, national identity

Suggested Citation

Todd, Jennifer and Muldoon, Orla and Trew, Karen F. and Bottos, Lorenzo and Rougier, Nathalie and McLaughlin, Katrina, The Moral Boundaries of the Nation: The Constitution of National Identity in the South Eastern Border Counties of Ireland (February 24, 2006). Ethnopolitics, Vol. 5, No. 4, pp. 365-382, 2006 , Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2116103

Jennifer Todd (Contact Author)

University College Dublin (UCD) - School of Politics and International Relations, Dublin ( email )

Belfield
Dublin, 4
Ireland

Orla Muldoon

affiliation not provided to SSRN

Karen F. Trew

Queen's University Belfast - School of Psychology ( email )

David Leir Building
Belfast BT7 1NN, BT9 5AG
Ireland

Lorenzo Bottos

affiliation not provided to SSRN

Nathalie Rougier

affiliation not provided to SSRN

Katrina McLaughlin

Resources for the Future

1616 P Street, NW
Washington, DC 20036
United States

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