Entangled Identities, Cultural-Political Mediation and the Longevity of Nations: A Cross-National Analysis of India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka

• Applicant: Dr. Lion Koenig
• Subject Area: Political Science ; Asian Studies
• Term: from 2015 to 2019
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 280812314

This project constitutes an investigation into the relevance of political and cultural institutions in the nation-building process and their role for the creation of modern states with India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka as case studies. Following Independence, the three states set off to the path of nation-building, however, with different results. India successfully managed to cope with cultural diversity, thanks to mediating institutions. Pakistan, on the other hand, broke apart in 1971, while Sri Lanka went through a period of civil war leading to what can best be described as sullen peace.When new states are created, political and cultural institutions are the crucial agents whose task it is to build commonality where previously difference existed. By means of a comparison of the three states the role of these institutions in bridging and accommodating cultural difference is analysed. The longevity of the nation is the dependent variable here, the variation in which is explained in terms of the independent variables of the entanglement and accommodation of identities.The cultural sphere is an important site on which the degree of inclusivity of a society, and the belonging to a community are determined. An in-depth investigation into the work and impact of a range of political bodies in the three states will provide crucial comparative insights into the significance of institutions for the stability, resilience and cohesion of state and society. In addition, non-state actors play a crucial role as they provide alternative discourses and often offer interpretations of the institutional scenario that conflict with those given by the state. The arenas crucial for analysis are the theoretical-conceptual foundation of the nation, the institutionalisation of the state, and the visualization of the state and the nation.While philosophical ideas, be they endogenous or exogenous, feed into the design of the institutions, icons and symbols, in transforming an idea to an image that the nation as an imagined community can identify with, are an integral part of nation-building. This project seeks to enhance the understanding of political problems by means of an interdisciplinary approach combining political science and neo-institutional approaches with political philosophy and political iconography. Art history, cultural theory and media studies are used to enrich political science and to enable the discipline to investigate into the role of icons in the nation-building process. The project will contribute to a strengthening of interdisciplinary approaches, to theory-building, and will constitute a methodological contribution to the ill-explored field of political iconography. Most importantly, this research will generate a comprehensive account of the role of culture in the making of the nation, and investigate into the implications of cultural and political institutions for a stable political regime.

• DFG Programme: Research Fellowships
• International Connection: United Kingdom
• Host: Dr. Faisal Devji