| ID | 074095 |
| Title Proper | When is a nation a nation? Identity-formation within a French West Indian people (Martinique) |
| Language | ENG |
| Author | Miles, William |
| Publication | 2006. |
| Summary / Abstract (Note) | Nationhood is usually considered a subjective state of being acquired by a self-conscious group sharing cultural distinctiveness and political goals. Social scientists and historians also endeavor to delineate objective factors that impart national status to minority peoples. Rarely do the elected officials of a non-sovereign people have the opportunity to vote on whether or not their constituency constitutes a discrete nation. The extraordinary Congress of 2002 in Martinique did provide such an opportunity, however. The contradictory outcomes of that seminal event - including the plebiscite one year later on a proposed change of status for this Caribbean island within the French Republic - reveal much about the ambiguous status of Martinican group identity. They also underline the need for theoreticians of nationalism to take into account politically and culturally specific understandings of the very concept of 'nation'. That a formerly colonised people may materially benefit disproportionately from ongoing institutional relationships with its former colonial power - countercolonialism - also needs to be considered. |
| `In' analytical Note | Nations and Nationalism Vol. 12, No. 4; Oct 2006: p631-652 |
| Journal Source | Nations and Nationalism Vol: 12 No 4 |
| Key Words | Nationhood ; Identity ; Caribbean Island |