25. February 2009
Nations Re-Nationalized
Designers and identity researchers Evert Ypma and Daniel van der Velden discuss the problem of nation branding and national identity. They argue that the contemporary nation-state must be represented beyond national borders and conveyed with more relevant approaches that go beyond branding.
By Evert Ypma and Daniel van der Velden
The nation branding virus
Nation after nation falls prey to the virus of branding, in search of national identity, representation, and steady foreign investment policies. Nation branding and ‘soft power’ have become common strategies to achieve these aims. In the turmoil of the present financial crisis the meaning and recognition of the nation-state will be drastically redefined once again. This process of transformation began in the decades preceding the global economic downturn where it acquired its current dimensions. In the 1990s and around the millennium many European countries came to realize an irreversible cultural hybridization was transforming their societies. This reality was denied and neglected for a long time. Consequently, the political agenda of many ‘advanced democracies’ was divided between what was pre sen ted as the ‘true’, ‘hard working’ native population and all kinds of migrant groups. ... Read further
Published in Volume 19, Architecture of Hope, 2009
Image top: Viaduct in Dubai, AE. Photo: Evert Ypma, 2006
Nation brand France 2000-2008
Nation brand France, 2009
'Made in France' in debate, 2010
Article on www.nation-branding.info
Liechtenstein nation brand
'Beatiful and strong – St Gallen cam do it'. City branding campaign St. Gallen.
Photo: Evert Ypma, 2009