Chapter The curious case of trademarks : IN Book: Nationalist Entrepreneurs and Territorial Disputes in Northeast Asia

Abstract

This book explores how nationalism surrounding territorial sovereignty requires a domestic nationalist ecosystem, aka the Nationalist Industrial Complex, to sustain public interest. It focuses on nationalist entrepreneurs representing local merchants who commodify nationalism by building businesses that explicitly incorporate elements of territorial sovereignty protection, e.g. food and apparel with the insignia of a disputed territory. The author argues that this ‘mundane’ everyday activity of commodification co-constitutes public interest surrounding territorial sovereignty and explains why nationalism might be more contingent than permanent. Despite its prevalence the commodification of nationalism is one of the most under-explored areas. This fresh insight on how everyday nationalism can influence ordinary people’s understanding of or attention to nationalistic issues will be of interest to scholars and students of East Asian international relations, nationalism, security studies, area studies, and comparative politics.