‘The opposite of nationalism’? Rethinking patriotism in US political discourse

ABSTRACT

Patriotism frequently is framed as an individualised expression of affinity for a civic polity and a counterweight to ethnocultural nationalism. Yet the term is invoked by theorists and practitioners to denote a broad, often contradictory range of values. This paper argues that this is not simply semantic slippage, but a reflection of the exclusionary character of patriotism. Taking as data the full range of speeches delivered at the 2016 Democratic and Republican National Conventions, alongside 180 campaign speeches delivered by Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, I conduct a critical political discourse analysis. I find that invocations of ‘patriotism’ construct an in-group of citizens who are positioned as the heirs of an authentic national tradition, and an out-group of co-citizens who are attempting to hijack the national spirit. Further, despite its global aspirations, patriotism hardens the racialised distinction between citizens and non-citizens.

KEYWORDS:

• Patriotism
• nationalism
• critical discourse analysis

Acknowledgments

I would like to thank the Identities editorial team, as well as the anonymous reviewers, for their helpful comments and support throughout the publication process. Earlier drafts of this paper were presented at the American Sociological Association and at the University of Cambridge. I am thankful to the participants at those events, particularly Ali Meghji and Sivamohan Valluvan, for their feedback.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. I use the term ‘unpatriot’ to refer to a person who is framed discursively as the opposite of patriotic. By nominalising the term, I emphasise the ways in which the accusation passes judgment on the character of the accused and excludes them from the idea of the nation.