Chapter
1
1
ISSUES: Title
Chapter 1: Title
Citizenship in the UK
C izenship
Chapter 1: Citizenshi in the UK
National identity
The concept of national identity
There are two widely accepted
conceptions of nationality: ‘ethnic’
and ‘civic’, both of which are linked
to the development of nations and
states in Europe. The civic conception
of nationalism helps explain the
development of nations in states that
had already emerged as political and
geographical units (for example, France).
As such, the nation was defined as
the totality of people living within the
boundariesof that stateandabidingby its
laws. This is why in the French conception
of nationalism the words ‘nationality’
and ‘citizenship’ denote the same thing:
belonging to the French state. Indeed, in
the civic conception of nationalism, the
nation and the citizenry are one and the
same, which is why such states are often
referredtoasnationstates. Consequently,
whenwe think of national identity in civic
terms, we think of an inclusive form of
identity: a person associates themselves
with the citizenry and the political and
legal institutions of the state. His or her
identity is defined by attachment to the
state as embodied by its institutions and
rules and not by traditions, language or
religion. Conversely, when we think of
ethnic nationalism, traditions, language,
religion and ancestry are precisely the
things that matter. As opposed to the
civic nation, the ethnic conception
of nationalism came into existence
in Germany and Eastern Europe as a
response of communities in highly
fragmented societies (such as the Austro-
Hungarian empire) searching to define
themselves. While civic nationalism
emerged after, and as a response to, the
emergence of a physical state, ethnic
nationalism emerged and solidified
culturally distinct communities whowere
looking to form their own state. This is
why in nation states where the ethnic
conception of nationalism dominates
there is a clear distinction between
citizenship and nationality. Citizenship
denotes a person’s legal status vis-à-vis
the state; nationality denotes his or her
intrinsic identity. Ethnic national identity
is characterised by an attachment to
one’s ancestry, tradition, culture and
language – and not necessarily to the
state a person was born and lives in.
This is why an ethnic national identity is
exclusive: if you are not born into it, you
cannot acquire it (Ignatieff, 1995).
This discussion assumes a very clear
distinction between the two types of
national identity. While this is accurate
in certain circumstance and some states
neatly fit into one or other category (for
example, France and Germany), the
picture in the UK is more complicated.
Britishness is described as being a ‘fuzzy’
concept that cannot be readily placed
into either of these two buckets. As such,
a matrix is proposed within which these
two types of national identity intersect
with one another, producing four
possible types of national identity.
Defining British identity
We assessed how people think of
national identity by asking the following
questions as part of the 1995, 2003 and
2013 British Social Attitudes surveys:
Some people say that the following
things are important for being truly
British. Others say that they are not
important. How important do you think
each of the following is?
Ö
To have been born in Britain
Ö
To have British citizenship
Ö
To have lived in Britain for most of
one’s life
Ö
To be able to speak English
Ö
To be a Christian
Ö
To
respect
Britain’s
political
institutions and laws
Ö
To feel British
Ö
To have British ancestry
We askedanadditional question toassess
