Apologies for being behind on my blog postings!! This has been my research idea that has been mulling around in my head for a bit after I heard Misha's talk last week.
Nationalism. In an era of globalization, boundaries have become fluid and porous with ideas, people, capital, and goods flowing between them with little or no restrictions. Concepts such as the "global citizen" has appeared and discourses on how identities might be transcending the nation and embracing supranational identities are a very debatable and controversial topic.
According to Misha it seems like this phenomenon of the "global citizen" is unfolding in Europe and specifically in Germany. Germans are very sensitive to nationalism and have embraced the EU identity due to their historic past. However, it seems to me that Germans have ambivalent feelings toward nationalism and are still very much grappling with the subject. When is it okay to be nationalistic and when is it not? Only for soccer games? With the recent economic crisis, you had the New York Times questioning the real solidarity of the EU identity when countries began to close in on themselves, unwilling to cooperate, or formulate economic policy that was detrimental to their fellow EU members. This set off a string of responses that exacerbated the issue and a collaborative consensus on what needs to be done has yet to surface.
Germany, currently the strongest economy in Europe, has had difficulty accepting bail-out packages or financial plans and does not look favorably towards bailing out other countries. Is this the sentiment shared by the general public? In terms of the economic crisis, have Germans turned into themselves and have the "take care of yourself" attitude? Is this the same sentiment shared by Berliners? Recently the largest May day protest gathering in Europe was in Berlin and Berliners gathered to express the discontent towards the slow progress of finding a solution to the current economic crisis. What was the sentiment among the gathered Berliners towards other members in the EU?
I want to research and investigate whether nationalist sentiment in Germany is really disappearing and why for certain events nationalist sentiment is triggered. What does this say about nationalism in Germany, are there ambivalent feelings about nationalism and what are these ambivalences?
Other research topics that interest me is a comparison between Germany and south Korea. It is still about nationalism but what I find fascinating is how Germany's history has put nationalism in a very negative light and in south Korea, its history has utilized nationalism and in Korea today nationalism is very sacred. Although both Germany and Korea seem to be opposite cases, Germany and South Korea have similar histories and one being the placement of a wall. Germany's Berlin Wall and the DMZ line that separates south and north Korea. Although the Berlin Wall is now no more, there is still psychological barriers that exist, and through those barriers what kind of linkages can we find between the two cases despite the two countries different outcomes?
Altar Items
German Flag
South Korean Flag
Nazi Swastika
War memoribilia from both Korea and Germany
Memoirs
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Nazi War Crimes.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3674913.stm
I am not definite in whether I support pursuing war crimes that occured more than half a century ago. Is there still a sense of justice when you supposedly find a guilty suspect for something he might have done during the Nazi Regime, and in the end he is an old feeble man who doesn't have much life left in him anyways? Does that really give people a sense of satisfaction?
I wonder how Germans feel about this issue because they are so sensitive about their past, maybe they feel that they have to pursue every and anyone who participated in Nazi activities and in the concentration camps.
Noone can deny the horror and absolute terror that occurred in those concentration camps but the process of trying to come to terms with that past...does that include forgiveness or retribution?
I am not definite in whether I support pursuing war crimes that occured more than half a century ago. Is there still a sense of justice when you supposedly find a guilty suspect for something he might have done during the Nazi Regime, and in the end he is an old feeble man who doesn't have much life left in him anyways? Does that really give people a sense of satisfaction?
I wonder how Germans feel about this issue because they are so sensitive about their past, maybe they feel that they have to pursue every and anyone who participated in Nazi activities and in the concentration camps.
Noone can deny the horror and absolute terror that occurred in those concentration camps but the process of trying to come to terms with that past...does that include forgiveness or retribution?
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