Unpacking Young People’s National Identities

Abstract

The article examines the intricacies implicated in the narration of young people’s national identities by shedding light on intersecting allegiances and on the role that perceived ‘others’ play in their accounts of nationhood. Based upon a qualitative study of youth narratives of identity in the context of Greek society, the article unpacks how participants make sense and narrate their nationhood via utilizing discursive resources, whilst dialogically conversing with the gaze of ‘other’. The narrative–discursive analysis of the in-depth interview material illustrates the interweavement of ethnicity with religion, along with the use of historical imagery and cultural signals of alleged similarity and difference. What becomes evident is the salience of ethno-cultural and religious identifications, operating as potent resources for self-making but also as vehicles for categorization and the potential exclusion of ‘others’. The article concludes by underlining the importance of empirically substantiating and theorizing the configurations of young people’s collective identities.

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