Recently I have become interested in various manifestations of nationalism in the US, particularly as the intensity of rhetoric has increased while the diversity in language used in political statements has rapidly decreased after 9/11.
This is certainly not something unique and there are countless examples of this across the world in pretty much every modern period of perceived crisis. However, we now all have an excellent opportunity to watch a case study unfold before our eyes. My friend Jai pointed out an interesting CNN article about Bush’s increasing use of religious terms. Jai’s own research interests as a PHD student make him exceptionally sensitive and adept at detecting the growing theocratic undertones in politics and the media in events as diverse as the Shuttle crisis and preparations for the invasion of Iraq.
While I’m also interested in this topic, most recently I have wanted to learn more about the US Pledge of Allegiance. I was never required to recite it in the international schools I attended but it was required during my short period in the American Boy Scouts.
I believe most Americans, including until recently, myself (despite my dual-citizenship), take the pledge for granted. Only the recent “Under God” controversy has really raised consciousness about it to any significant level. However, I have recently come to suddenly realize that the pledge is really quite a fascinating topic…
The reason I became interested is that it occured to me recently that I can’t think of any other country which has this kind of nationalistic ritual, except perhaps in some of the rituals of Communist countries and Nazi Germany. My google skills failed me since I was unable to find any search terms that showed up a list of countries which have anything similar. I’m sure there is bound to be some great stuff on this in print in works on nationalism and its history that I have not read yet.
If anyone knows of any other country which requires its citizens to repeat a pledge of loyalty and allegiance to its nation in its education system or on other regular occasions, I would love to make a list with comparisons of the kinds of rituals and pledges involved.
Unfortunately, the only other examples I was able to find were from fascist Europe. While I don’t know if it was accompanied by a specific pledge, the link between the US pledge and a Nazi flag salute is often pointed out. This is mentioned on many sites recounting the history of the US pledge of allegiance (Google: “pledge of allegiance” Nazi)
Perhaps this is common knowledge and I have just never heard it before but the resulting hits all claim that up until 1942 the US pledge of allegiance was done with the arm outstretched with the open hand pointing at the flag with the palm faced down. Since this was unfortunately rather closely associated with the familiar salute of the German National Socialists, the pledge was changed to its current version which involves placing the open hand upon the chest. I haven’t confirmed this, so I hope I am not contributing to the spread of an admittedly juicy urban myth.
Obviously, there must be other more recent examples of loyalty oaths which are similar to the US pledge, and hopefully I will find a few non-fascist examples. The US pledge is, of course, merely one of a list of different performative rituals that nation-states have required of their citizens. Various flag and anthem related rituals, as well as those undergone in the process of naturalization are other examples that come immediately to mind.
Another interesting note about the US pledge was that one of its earliest changes (long before the 1954 insertion of the controversial “Under God”) was from pledging allegiance to “my” flag to pledging allegiance to “the” flag of the “United States” allegedly out of concern that there would be some cause for misunderstanding amongst recent immigrants.
The infamous “Under God” phrase is usually described as a move to contrast the US to its atheist Cold War opponents, the President’s justification at the time was supposedly, “In this way we are reaffirming the transcendence of religious faith in America’s heritage and future; in this way we shall constantly strengthen those spiritual weapons which forever will be our country’s most powerful resource in peace and war.”
The reference to “spiritual weapons” of course, is not altogether unfamiliar to our contemporary ears. Anyways, I am always fascinated to learn about the extent of US nationalism. As Jai would surely point out, the deep, and often fundamentalist (defined as “a religious or political movement based on a literal interpretation of and strict adherence to doctrine, especially as a return to former principles”) Christian component of US political ideology is also worth study and attention. To some extent this can help us understand the gaps between the US and much of the world in terms of foreign policy and avoid the common over-simplification of the US as just another bloated imperial gorilla.
It is a very special gorilla :-)
There are two other countries that had a Pledge of Allegiance: Fascist Italy under Bendito Mussolini and Nazi Germany under Adolf Hitler. Of course, one doesn’t have to look far to know the relation of these two at start, so the usage of one to another is a matter of default.
So-called communist countries (which cannot claim themselves so, as they never fully achieved Marxist-based ideas of soical evolution), to the best of my knowledge, never had a concrete pledge.