National Humiliation Takes Root: National Humiliation and Political Power

• In Event: Elites under Fire: Assassinations, Mutiny and Leadership Change

Abstract

Researchers have linked the emotion of national humiliation to international conflict. Others have explored when identity entrepreneurs propagate narratives of national humiliation. However, the conditions that enable groups propagating these narratives to gain and maintain political power are less well understood. Understanding these conditions matters because gaining control of the state greatly expands the ability of identity entrepreneurs disseminate these narratives, granting them the control of the education system, state-controlled media, museums, and other avenues to spread their narratives. Political control also gives proponents of national humiliation narratives authority over foreign policy, including conflict. I study political groups’ propagation of national humiliation narratives in both China and India over the 20th century, to build a theory of when narratives of national humiliation help political groups gain and maintain political power. I find at least three conditions are necessary. First, the proponents of these narratives must be able to disseminate them without being crushed by state repression. Second, a sufficient segment of the population must have a quality of life above subsistence levels to create a receptive audience for these narratives. Finally, propagators must be densely linked to their audience both through the media and through institutions, such as civil society organizations and political parties. Given these necessary conditions, I argue that the probability actors propagating national humiliation narratives will gain or maintain political power increases with the salience of the national identity relative to other competing identities.

Author

• Michael Masterson, Missouri State University