Branding the nation — the historical context

Abstract

The concept of the nation as a brand seems to excite visceral animosity in some people. This paper examines the history of the nation as a brand, and tries to understand why, in the light of clear historical evidence, so many people find the idea objectionable. It concludes that it is not the concept that they detest so much as the word brand, which appears for some people to have trifling and superficial implications unworthy of the national idea.