The Discursive Exclusion of Minorities: Narratives of the Self in Israel and Moldova

Abstract

Studies on nation-state models and state-minorities relations often draw implicitly or explicitly on the civic vs. ethnic nation-state dichotomy, where the first would include minorities in a ‘civic’ nation, and the second would be the state of a sole ethnic nation, hence excluding minorities from this construction. Following other authors, the main argument of this paper is that in order to enhance our understanding of the state-minorities relations, these categories need to be challenged, but also empirically deconstructed. The paper argues that in so-called civic states, similar exclusivist discursive articulations to those present in ethnic states, are at play and vice versa. The argument is articulated through the study of central political elite’s narratives on the nation-state in two cases: one (self)-proclaimed ‘civic nation-state’, Moldova, and one ‘ethnic nation-state’ state, Israel. The analysis is based on an original methodology combining narrative analysis with critical discourse analysis (CDA). Through an analysis of the narrative chronological sequencing – present, future and past – the paper demonstrates that in both cases, inclusive discursive strategies are at play in the present. It then highlights that in both cases the future and past sequences of the narrative entail exclusive discursive practices leaving minorities out of the nation’s boundaries.

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