“Essential Nation/ Historical Nation: A study of young Argentineans’ representations of their national territory, in the context of globalization”.

KRIGER, MIIRAM

Estambul

Encuentro; Annual Scientific Meeting of the International Society of Political Psychology (ISPP),; 2011

International Society of Political Psychology

This paper presents partial findings of a research (Kriger, 2010) on young Argentineans’ representations about their national territory, in a context of planetary globalization processes that have changed significantly the territorial ordering systems, geographical affiliations, and the territorial sovereignty’s role in the representations of national identity. It analyzes narratives emerging from in-depth interviews with subjects aged 18 and 19 years old, graduated from high school early in the new millennium.(2005-6). The main purpose of this paper is to establish meaningful links between Essential Nation and Historical Nation (Carretero & Kriger 2008, 2009) in the conception of a new citizens’ generation that attended school during the 90’s, when a process of indebtness and foreignization of national resources was intensified until it led to Argentina´s default in 2001. First, we analyze the representations of the territory related to the past, as inheritance or legacy from the "imagined community" (Anderson, 1983), or as a place in which the essence of the nation is rooted. Second, we analyze the representations of the territory related to the present and the future, linked to current issues of national sovereignty and natural resources’ exploitation. In conclusion, we find that difficulties in accessing historical thinking (Winneburg, 1999) of the territory interfere negatively, hindering the capability to approach politically the contemporary challenges.