Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-t5tsf Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-05T07:10:55.632Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Nation Branding in the Post-Communist World: Assessing the Field of Critical Research

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 February 2021

Nadia Kaneva Open the ORCID record for Nadia Kaneva [Opens in a new window]
Nadia Kaneva*
Affiliation:
University of Denver, USA
*
*Corresponding author. Email: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

In the second decade of the 21st century, the practices, discourses, and implications of nation branding have attracted growing interest from scholars in the humanities and social sciences seeking to understand the linkages between national identities, reputations, governance, and the phenomenon of nation branding. This strand of critical research, as opposed to instrumentalist approaches, is the focus of this review. In line with the scope of the journal, the review looks at nation branding research that relates to the countries of the former communist bloc. The analysis finds that the state of the field is fragmented due to its multi-disciplinary nature. It is also argued that the field may be suffering from methodological nationalism. The discussion identifies epistemological and theoretical approaches, pointing out gaps and limitations along the way. It is suggested that research in the field can be grouped into “identity studies” and “practice studies” as a way to better understand key theoretical influences. Finally, it is proposed that future research should look at nation branding both as a field of practice that merits critical examination in its own right and as a lens that can be used to investigate changes in the state of nationhood today.

Keywords

nation brandingnational identitynationhoodpost-communismneoliberalismnationalism
Type
State of the Field
Information
Nationalities Papers , Volume 49 , Issue 5 , September 2021 , pp. 797 - 807
Check for updates
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Association for the Study of Nationalities

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Almeyda-Ibáñez, Marta, and George, Babu. 2017. “The Evolution of Destination Branding: A Review of Branding Literature in Tourism.” Journal of Tourism, Heritage and Services Marketing 3 (1): 9–17.Google Scholar
Anderson, Benedict. 1983. Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origins and Spread of Nationalism. London: Verso.Google Scholar
Anholt, Simon. 2010. Places: Identity, Image and Reputation. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.Google Scholar
Aronczyk, Mellissa. 2007. “New and improved nations: Branding national identity.” In Practicing Culture, edited by Calhoun, Craig and Sennett, Richard, 105–128. New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Aronczyk, Melissa. 2013. Branding the Nation: The Global Business of National Identity. New York: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Aronczyk, Melissa. 2018. “Nation Branding: A Twenty-First Century Tradition.” In Nation Branding in Modern History, edited by Viktorin, Carolin, Gienow-Hecht, Jessica C. E., Estner, Annika, and Will, Marcel K., 231–242. New York: Berghahn.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baker, Catherine. 2008. “Wild Dances and Dying Wolves: Simulation, Essentialization, and National Identity at the Eurovision Song Contest.” Popular Communication 6 (3): 173–189.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Billig, Michael. 1995. Banal Nationalism. London: Sage.Google Scholar
Bolin, Göran, and Ståhlberg, Per. 2010. “Between Community and Commodity: Nationalism and Nation Branding.” In Communicating the Nation: National Topographies of Global Media Landscapes, edited by Roosvall, Anna and Inka, Salovaara-Moring, 79–101. Gothenburg: Nordicom.Google Scholar
Bolin, Göran, and Ståhlberg, Per. 2015. “Mediating the Nation-State: Agency and the Media in Nation-Branding Campaigns.” International Journal of Communication 9: 3065–3083.Google Scholar
Bolin, Göran, and Miazhevich, Galina. 2018. “The Soft Power of Commercialized Nationalist Symbols: Using Media Analysis to Understand Nation Branding Campaigns.” European Journal of Cultural Studies 21 (5): 527–542.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Browning, Christopher. 2016. “Nation Branding and Development: Poverty Panacea or Business as Usual?” Journal of International Relations and Development 19 (1): 50–75.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brubaker, Rogers. 1994. “Rethinking Nationhood: Nation as Institutionalized Form, Practical Category, Contingent Event.” Contention 4 (1): 3–14.Google Scholar
Budnitsky, Stanislav, and Jia, Lianrui. 2018. “Branding Internet Sovereignty: Digital Media and the Chinese–Russian Cyberalliance.” European Journal of Cultural Studies 21 (5): 594–613.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cheregi, Bianca-Florentina. 2017. “Nation Branding in Romania After 1989: A Cultural Semiotic Perspective.” Romanian Journal of Communication and Public Relations 19 (1): 27–49.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Clerc, Louis, Glover, Nikolas, and Jordan, Paul. 2015. Histories of Public Diplomacy and Nation Branding in the Nordic and Baltic Countries: Representing the Periphery. Leiden: Brill Nijhoff.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cooke, Miriam. 2014. Tribal Modern: Branding New Nations in the Arab Gulf. Berkeley: University of California Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Costelló, Enric and Mihelj, Sabina. 2018. “Selling and Consuming the Nation: Understanding Consumer Nationalism.” Journal of Consumer Culture 18 (4): 558–576.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dzenovska, Dace. 2005. “Remaking the Nation of Latvia: Anthropological Perspectives on Nation Branding. Place Branding and Public Diplomacy 1 (2): 173–186.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dolea, Elena-Alina. 2015. Twenty Years of (Re)branding Post-Communist Romania: Actors, Discourses, Perspectives – 1990–2010. Bucharest: Institutul European.Google Scholar
Dumitrica, Delia. 2019. “The Ideological Work of the Daily Visual Representations of Nations.” Nations and Nationalism 25 (3): 910–934.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Edney, Kingsley, Rosen, Stanley, and Zhu, Ying. 2019. Soft Power with Chinese Characteristics: China’s Campaign for Hearts and Minds. New York: Routledge.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eggeling, Kristin. 2020. Nation-Branding in Practice: The Politics of Promoting Sports, Cities and Universities in Kazakhstan and Qatar. New York: Routledge.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ermann, Ulrich, and Hermanik, Klaus-Jürgen. 2017. Branding the Nation, the Place, the Product. New York: Routledge.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fauve, Adrien. 2015. “Global Astana: Nation-Branding as a Legitimation Tool for Authoritarian Regimes.” Central Asian Survey 34 (1): 110–125.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fehimovic, Dunja, and Ogden, Rebecca. 2018. Branding Latin America: Strategies, Aims, Resistance. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books.Google Scholar
Fetzer, Thomas. 2020. “Nationalism and Economy.” Nationalities Papers. Published online ahead of print April 6, 2020. doi:10.1017/nps.2019.123.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gienow-Hecht, Jessica. 2019. “Nation Branding: A Useful Category for International History.” Diplomacy & Statecraft 30 (4): 755–779.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Götz, Irene. 2016. “The Rediscovery of ‘the National’ in the 1990s – Contexts, New Cultural Forms and Practices in Reunified Germany.” Nations and Nationalism 22 (4): 803–823.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Graan, Andrew. 2016. “The Semiotics of Nation Branding: Toward an Analysis of Postnationalism?” Signs and Society 4 (S1): S70–S105. https://doi.org/10.1086/684613.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hao, Andy, Paul, Justin, Trott, Sangeeta, Guo, Chiquan, and Wu, Heng-Hui. 2019. “Two Decades of Research on Nation Branding: A review and Future Research Agenda.” International Marketing Review. https://doi.org/10.1108/IMR-01-2019-0028.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hart, Justin. 2018. “Historicizing the Relationship between Nation Branding and Public Diplomacy.” In Nation Branding in Modern History, edited by Viktorin, Carolin, Gienow-Hecht, Jessica C. E., Estner, Annika, and Will, Marcel K., 221–230. New York: Berghahn.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hickman, Arvind. 2019. “Saudi Arabia Turns to Influencers to Give Nation’s Image a Makeover.” Campaign, October 16, 2019. https://www.campaignlive.co.uk/article/saudi-arabia-turns-influencers-give-nations-image-makeover/1662726 (Accessed July 10, 2020.)Google Scholar
Hobsbawm, Eric. 1983. “Inventing Traditions.” In The Invention of Tradition, edited by Hobsbawm, Eric and Ranger, Terence, 1–14. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Jansen, Sue Curry. 2008. “Designer Nations: Neo-liberal nation Branding – Brand Estonia.” Social Identities 14 (1): 121–42.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jansen, Sue Curry. 2011. “Redesigning a Nation: Welcome to E-stonia, 2001-2018.” In Branding Post-Communist Nations: Marketizing National Identities in the “New” Europe, edited by Kaneva, Nadia, 79–98. New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Jordan, Paul. 2014. The Modern Fairy Tale: Nation Branding, National Identity and the Eurovision Song Contest in Estonia. Tartu, Estonia: University of Tartu Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kaneva, Nadia. 2011a. “Who Can Play This Game? The Rise of Nation Branding in Bulgaria, 2001–2005.” In Branding Post-Communist Nations: Marketizing National Identities in the “New” Europe, edited by Kaneva, Nadia, 99–123. New York: Routledge.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kaneva, Nadia. 2011b. “Nation Branding: Toward an Agenda for Critical Research.” International Journal of Communication 5: 117–41.Google Scholar
Kaneva, Nadia. 2015. “Nation Branding and Commercial Nationalism: A Critical Perspective.” In Commercial Nationalism: Selling the Nation and Nationalizing the Sell, edited by Volcic, Zala & Andrejevic, Mark, 175–190. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.Google Scholar
Kaneva, Nadia. 2017. “The Branded National Imagination and its Limits: Insights from the Post-Socialist Experience.” Strategic Review for Southern Africa, 39 (1): 116–138.Google Scholar
Kaneva, Nadia. 2018a. “Neoliberal Development and Nation Branding: Lessons from Post-War Kosovo.” In Communicating National Image through Development and Diplomacy: The Politics of Foreign Aid, edited by Pamment, James and Wilkins, Karin, 73–98. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kaneva, Nadia. 2018b. “Simulation Nations: Nation brands and Baudrillard’s Theory of Media.” European Journal of Cultural Studies, 21 (5): 631–648.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kaneva, Nadia, and Popescu, Delia. 2011. “National Identity Lite: Nation Branding in Postcommunist Romania and Bulgaria.” International Journal of Cultural Studies, 14 (2), 191–207.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kania-Lundholm, Magdalena. 2014. “Nation in Market Times: Connecting the National and the Commercial.” Sociology Compass 8 (6): 603–613.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Krebs, Melanie. 2012. “From a Real Home to a Nation’s Brand: On Stationary and Traveling Yurts.” Ab Imperio 2: 403–428. https://doi.org/10.1353/imp.2012.0078.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Krenn, Michael. 2018. “The Art of Branding: Rethinking American Cultural Diplomacy During the Cold War.” In Nation Branding in Modern History, edited by Viktorin, Carolin, Gienow-Hecht, Jessica C. E., Estner, Annika, and Will, Marcel K., 149–172. New York: Berghahn.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Laughland, Oliver. 2014. “Australian Government Targets Asylum Seekers with Graphic Campaign.” The Guardian, February 11, 2014. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/feb/11/government-launches-new-graphic-campaign-to-deter-asylum-seekers (Accessed July 10, 2020.)Google Scholar
Lewis, Nick. 2011. “Packaging Political Projects in Geographical Imaginaries: The Rise of Nation Branding.” In Brands and Branding Geographies, edited by Pike, Andy, 264–288. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.Google Scholar
Li, Hongmei. 2016. Advertising and Consumer Culture in China. Malden, MA: Polity Press.Google Scholar
Marat, Erica. 2009. “Nation Branding in Central Asia: A New Campaign to Present Ideas about the State and the Nation Pages.” Europe-Asia Studies 61 (7): 1123–1136.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Merkelsen, Henrik, and Rasmussen, Rasmus K. 2016. “Nation Branding as an Emerging Field –An Institutionalist Perspective.” Place Branding and Public Diplomacy 12 (2–3): 99–109.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mills, C. Wright. 1959. The Sociological Imagination. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Moilanen, Teemu, and Rainisto, Seppo. 2008. How to Brand Nations, Cities and Destinations: A Planning Book for Place Branding. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.Google Scholar
Mzezewa, Tariro. 2019. “How to Rebrand a Country.” The New York Times, November 23, 2019. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/23/travel/rebrandng-croatia-colombia.html (Accessed November 20, 2019.)Google Scholar
Nimijean, Richard. and Carment, David. 2019. Canada, Nation Branding and Domestic Politics. New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Nye, Joseph. 2004. Soft Power: The Means to Success in World Politics. New York: Public Affairs.Google Scholar
Olins, Wally. 1999. Trading Identities: Why Countries and Companies are Taking on Each Other’s Roles. London: The Foreign Policy Centre.Google Scholar
Olins, Wally. 2002. “Branding the Nation: The Historical Context.” Brand Management 9 (4–5), 241–249.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Owen, Jonathan. 2018. “Seventh Anniversary of the GREAT Campaign: Three Billion Reasons to Be Cheerful.” PR Week, September 28, 2018. https://www.prweek.com/article/1494006/seventh-anniversary-great-campaign-three-billion-reasons-cheerful (Accessed July 12, 2020.)Google Scholar
Papadopoulos, Nicolas, Hamzaoui-Essoussi, Leila, and Banna, Alia El. 2016. “Nation Branding for Foreign Direct Investment: An Integrative Review and Directions for Research and Strategy.” Journal of Product & Brand Management 25 (7): 615–628.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pawłusz, Emilia, and Polese, Abel. 2017. “‘Scandinavia’s Best-Kept Secret.’ Tourism Promotion, Nation-branding, and Identity Construction in Estonia (with a Free Guided Tour of Tallinn Airport).” Nationalities Papers 45 (5): 873–892.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Persson, Emil, and Petersson, Bo. 2014. “Political Mythmaking and the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi: Olympism and the Russian Great Power Myth.” East European Politics 30 (2): 192–209.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Porter, Michael E. 1990. The Competitive Advantage of Nations. New York: Free Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rein, Irving, Kotler, Philip, and Haider, Donald. 1993. Marketing Places: Attracting Investment, Industry, and Tourism to Cities, States, and Nations. New York: The Free Press.Google Scholar
Roy, Ishita Sinha. 2019. Manufacturing Indianness: Nation-Branding and Postcolonial Identity. New York: Peter Lang.Google Scholar
Saunders, Robert. 2018. Popular Geopolitics and Nation Branding in the Post-Soviet Realm. New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Ströhle, I. 2012. “Reinventing Kosovo: Newborn and The Young Europeans.” In Suber, D. & Karamanic, S., eds., Retracing Images: Visual Culture After Yugoslavia, 223–250. Leiden: Brill.Google Scholar
Surowiec, Pawel. 2017. Nation Branding, Public Relations and Soft Power: Corporatising Poland. New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Valaskivi, Katja. 2016. Cool Nations: Media and the Social Imaginary of the Branded Country. New York: Routledge.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
UNWTO. 2020. “International Tourist Numbers Could Fall 60-80% in 2020, UNWTO Reports.” World Tourism Organization, May 7, 2020. https://www.unwto.org/news/covid-19-international-tourist-numbers-could-fall-60-80-in-2020 (Accessed July 10, 2020.)Google Scholar
Verdery, Katherine. 1993. “Whither ‘Nation’ and ‘Nationalism’?” Daedalus 122 (3): 37–46.Google Scholar
Van Ham, Peter. 2001. “The Rise of the Brand State: The Postmodern Politics of Image and Reputation.” Foreign Affairs 8 (5): 2–6.Google Scholar
Varga, Somogy. 2013. “The Politics of Nation Branding: Collective Identity and Public Sphere in the Neoliberal State. Philosophy and Social Criticism 39 (8): 825–845.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Volcic, Zala, and Andrejevic, Mark. 2011. “Nation Branding in the Era of Commercial Nationalism.” International Journal of Communication, 5: 598–618.Google Scholar
Volcic, Zala, and Andrejevic, Mark, eds. 2015. Commercial Nationalism: Selling the Nation and Nationalizing the Sell. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.Google Scholar
Volos, Vadim. 2019. “Germany Retains Top ‘Nation Brand’ Ranking, France and Canada Emerge to Round Out the Top Three.” Ipsos, November 18, 2019. https://www.ipsos.com/en-us/news-polls/Germany-Retains-Top (Accessed June 20, 2020.)Google Scholar
Vuignier, Renaud. 2017. “Place Branding and Place Marketing 1976–2016: A Multidisciplinary Literature Review.” International Review on Public and Nonprofit Marketing 14 (4): 447–473.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vujacic, Lidija. 2013. “Madonna, Glamour and Politics: Nation Branding and Pop Concerts in the Promotion of Montenegro as an Elite Tourist Destination.” History and Anthropology 24 (1): 153–165.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wählisch, Martin, and Xharra, Behar. 2010. Public Diplomacy of Kosovo: Status Quo, Challenges and Options. Prishtina: Friedrich-Ebert-Foundation.Google Scholar
Yang, Fan. 2016. Faked in China: Nation Branding, Counterfeit Culture, and Globalization. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press.Google Scholar