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5 pages/≈1375 words
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MLA
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Social Sciences
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Essay
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English (U.S.)
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Topic:

Collective Identities Across the Globe and The Practices of Bourgeoisie

Essay Instructions:

The essay should be about 5-6 pages in length (3 pages for each question), double spaced, with 1-inch margins and an 11- or 12-point standard font. Answer both prompts seperatly.
The aim of this assignment is for both of us to get a sense of how well you understand and can think through some of the central issues we’ve discussed so far. I am interested not just in accurate explanations of terms and issues (although these are important), but also for thorough consideration of complex ideas. There is not a single right way to answer the question, but it is not enough to just summarize the texts.
A successful essay will include the following qualities:
• Responds to the question in a thorough, thoughtful, and focused way, addressing the issues raised by the prompt and making extensive use of relevant concepts.
• Explains those issues and concepts accurately and thoroughly.
• Uses examples accurately and explains their relevance.
• Makes explicit and accurate reference to texts, including paraphrasing and quotations. Remember, however, that quotations should be used to support a point you have made in your own words, not to make a point for you.
Additional tips:
• Please cite page numbers when you quote or paraphrase, but you do not need a list of references cited.
• You do not have to respond to individual parts of the questions in the order they appear here, but be sure to address each of them explicitly.
Prompt 1. A key point in our reading and discussion has been that collective identities at the scale of the nation, as well as “Europe” and “the West” are not given or natural, but are rather constructed or imagined. They may also come to be taken for granted, seen as natural or given, but there is usually some effort involved in maintaining them (and identification with them). Drawing on texts from weeks 1-3, discuss what it means to regard collective identities at the level of nations and Europe as constructed or imagined. What does it mean to describe them in this way? How do people come to feel they belong to a group composed of large numbers of people they will never meet? How does that identity become compelling to them (or not)? What strategies are used to construct and maintain the nation and national identity?
Prompt 2: Löfgren and Frykman describe cultural beliefs and practices that the 19th-century Swedish bourgeoisie developed — beliefs and practices they saw as distinguishing them as a social class, but also as exemplifying what it meant to be Swedish. Drawing on Culture Builders, describe three beliefs or practices that the bourgeoisie saw as distinguishing them from others, as well as what they saw as deficient or wrong in others’ ways. How did they serve to distinguish the bourgeoisie symbolically from others? How did such beliefs become hegemonic? In addition, discuss how the bourgeoisie created an “echo chamber” (see concluding chapter) that reinforced their sense of correctness.
These are chapters from the Jonas Frykman and Orvar Löfgren. 1987. Culture Builders: A Historical Anthropology of Middle-Class Life. For the second prompt, can also be used for the first if applicable.

Essay Sample Content Preview:
Student
Instructor
Course
Date
Anthropology of Europe
Prompt 1
  Collective identities across the globe are not given or natural; instead, they are constructed or imagined. The beliefs and practices that the bourgeoisie had is an excellent example of how collective identities were established (Anderson 50). Having a collective identity is to make individuals feel like they fit in a particular group. This aspect has not been limited to the 18th and 19th centuries but is also present in the 21st century. Notably, collective identity is formed because people believe they have a shared goal (Shore 53). It can also arise from a social movement that wants to distinguish itself from others. The Swedish bourgeoisie's collective identity resulted mainly from the social and economic status of the people. Through their collective economic and social aspirations, they established their collective identity.
There are several reasons why people might feel that they belong to a group of many people that they will never meet. One of the reasons a person may feel they belong to a group of many people they may never meet is their upbringing. A person brought up surrounded by people who look the same and share the same value will have an attitude that anyone who shares the same value, even if they are far from the same group. The government can also make people feel like they belong to the same group because of how different people are treated. When policies are formulated to favor a particular group of people and suppress the rights of others, it might enforce the formation of collective identities. For example, the peasants in Sweden were subjected to the same rules, which made them feel like they belonged to the same group.
  Lцfgren and Frykman describe collective identities as the need for a person to become a part of a particular group based on specific beliefs or assumptions. The collective identity aims to develop a sense of belonging by participating in certain social activities (Frykman and Lцfgren 160). People can form collective identities by creating a movement or an organization that separates them from other people. An example of collective identity at the level of nations is when South Africa had the apartheid system. In this system, the whites constructed structures that would separate them from the blacks. In the USA, the same system was where white individuals and black people had different privileges. White people were allowed to enjoy high-quality social and economic aspects compared to black people, which also cemented the collective identity of both groups. Such happening is similar to what occurred in Sweden during the 19th century. The construction of collective identity was done by not providing peasants with the right to land ownership (Jacobs). Therefore, the collective identities were constructed using the belief that one group is better than the other.
  Several strategies are used to construct and maintain the nation and national identity. In the 19th century, the Swedish bourgeoisie passed laws that would make it hard for the peasants to have the same economic opportunities as the rest of the society (Frykman and Lцfgren). The peasants in Sweden were not given the right to own lan...
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