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I'd like to clarify that while I mentioned flag burning as not neccesarily a Good Thing, that's not to say it's an inherently, naturally Bad Thing or that I beleive it is or should be a taboo.
I don't value "my" flag (the British one). When I see it being burned, it doesn't worry or scare me, it just tells me that some people are angry with Britain for something (they may be unfounded in this anger or they may have very good reason to be angry, but they are angry none the less).
There are various reasons why I don't really value the flag of "my nation". One of these is that I don't particularly value nationhood, nationality or nationalist politics.
As a signifier I think the flag is so laden with implicit associations that to leave it uninterrogated is unexcusable. I'm all for accepting my part in some form of "bigger system", and to an extent a flag symbolises this, but only up to a certain rigidly defined point: that of "the nation". Why can't one celebrate, say, one's role as part of the ecosystem? Or the great family of mankind? Or planet Earth's place in the solar system, and so on, all of which tend to kick the petty notion of belonging to "a nation" into perspective.
(I make an exception for those who are victimised and wish to rally round a strength object- presumably this is how all flags started out- but I think that once the victimised start to gain power they should think about abandoning such symbols, otherwise the victim-against-the-world status gets carried over and mapped, falsely, onto a now dominant people- the American flag that seems to fly in every street there, for example, appears vulgar to most outside observers for this reason.)
However, because so many people do seem to value the flag of their country, to the point where they see that flag as an extension of themselves, I think that flag burning is rarely constructive, if one is trying to illustrate a power imbalance. It tends to cement reactionary positions within the dominant party, loses possible sympathisers therein, and close up the lines of dialogue very quickly. The sad fact is, though, that often, the victims of these power imbalances find that burning a flag is the only way they have of getting their voices heard- this is something that Europeans must remember when looking at the events unfolding in the middle east.
Linked to this is the notion of how much the flag burner values the flag. In the current context, it was pointed out to me by a Muslim commentator that the average person in, for example Syria, considers him or her self more "Muslim" than "Syrian"- and so national identity, and the flag, is less important to them than religious identity.
Which shows us two things- contrary to seemingly popular beleif, an offensive representation of Mohammed is equally offensive that to a Muslim as a burning flag to a Dane, and that in burning Denmark's flag, they are not burning the same thing that the Danes are flying. |
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