The Reith Lectures - Country

Sl's very own forum for your impressions on any film , downloaded , DVD/blueray , or cable/satellite TV films that might be of interest to users .
Post Reply
User avatar
Little John
member
Posts: 16399
Joined: January 2nd, 2010, 1:46 pm
Location: SE London

The Reith Lectures - Country

Post by Little John »

Second in the current series by Kwame Anthoney Appiah, philosopher.

The series theme is identity. Last week it was about religion and this week about nationality. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07zz5mf#play

Broadcast from Glasgow university it was particular appropriate considering the independence and the Brexit debates. It occured to me, that the Scottish independence movement is not such a nationalist movement as one might have thought but largely a desire to remain part of a bigger wider community, Europe.

In that way, its less of a nationalist concept than the English Brexiteers. As a remainer, I do not consider myself a nationalist as such although I did relate to his differentiation between nationalism and patriotism. Appiah claims to be a proud patriotic American (although British born of mixed race parents).

Its also relevant because of the geographic mix of regulars on this forum. If you have the time, give it a listen. The lecture was good but the debate following it was even more stimulating. But the main point really, was that nationhood is an abstract concept and a moving feast in time. I didn't realise how young Italy was - although I did know it wasn't always "Italy".

I must confess to be slightly uneasy about mass immigration but only because of the fear of quick change. The sort of quick change that happened after the Norman invasion. And they weren't even "foreigners" as such but close relatives living in Normandy. And that's the other thing. 500 years ago, you wouldn't have noticed the difference between immigrants. They would have come from Europe and been indistinguishable from your average Saxon or whatever. The fact that people come from further away, makes them that more identifiable and I can understand the unease many people feel. But that's the way of the World.

National identity is no longer about race. I do think that its still very much about culture but even that evolves over time.
Yes this is the real "Little John" (or it could be "colin")
Post Reply