This Place We Call Home

Abstract

This chapter analyzes human relationships in both the personal and the political sphere. It examines how real love targets certain individuals and endows them with some special features that make them (for us) unique. Nation-states are no different; they would like their members to believe that they were destined for each other, a quintessential band of brothers whose bonding is special, different from all other similar bonds. The chapter also demonstrates how nationalism operated much the same way. It states that not all nations are exceptional, not all homelands can possibly be the most beautiful of all, however, we feel our nation to be unique. The chapter assumes that the same mechanism that allows us to fall in love, create friendships and partnerships, and favor those we care about also works in the case of nationalism. Ultimately, the chapter explores national claims using two distinct and incompatible discourses: the first tells a story meaningful only to fellow nationals, and the second encompasses the universal dimension and situates the national phenomenon within a general framework.