Belgium's Divided Identity: Cultural & Political Factors - Essay Sample

Introduction

Belgium, as a country, is divided into cultural-linguistic of Flemings and Walloons, which has significantly affected the national identity. The existing tension between the two groups has risen as a result of cultural differences. Despite the impact of cultural differences, political differences have also contributed to shaping Belgium identity. There are underlying economic, political, and historical factors which have enabled the political parties to have a significant impact on both the regional and national identity scenario. Most political parties in Belgium are based on regionalism, which has impacted the entire territory.

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Consequently, the regionalism attachment to the nation has significantly reduced among Belgium citizens. The is constant conflict on the issue of political party power. The Belgians speak three distinct languages, which has made it challenging to identify the key driving factors. The issue of language disparity and the political party's collective have affected the formation of identity in Belgium. This paper aims at investigating how factors such as economy, politics, regions, and history of Belgium have created a niche in both regional and national identity.

Supporting Evident

Belgium raised concerns in 2011 by lacking federal government functioning for 541 days compared to 249 days of Iraq's existing record. There was a real talk on the country partitioning along with the cultural-linguistic factors. The existing divide in cultural-linguistic regions of Flanders in northern occupied by Dutch-speaking and the French-speaking communities within the southern region of Wallonia, which has resulted in a rising identity crisis in Belgium. There has been a rising challenge in the overall identity of the citizens in both the national and regional identities (Van-Hauwaert et al. 2019). Nevertheless, there has been raising significance on the linguistic and cultural differences in Belgium identity crisis discussion. Current scholarly research on the country's identity towards national and regional aspects has been debated to be propelled by political parties in the country. The economy, politics, and the history of Belgium have given the parties considerable power access in the identity shaping of the country.

The study aims to carry an in-depth analysis of the primary construction identities on the regional and national identity in Belgium through political geography lens intersecting political science and geographical space as the main contributors to identity. Several research questions can be used to carry an investigation on whether the Belgian identity is based on national or regional aspects. The research questions include: (1) how does the political party influence reproduce and present regional and national identity in Belgium? (2) how do factors such as economy, politics, and Belgium history contribute to the increase of influence of political parties and political power? (3) how is the national identity in Belgium promoted, displayed, and described on the platform of political parties?

Rationale

There is continuously growing discussion on whether the country should be partitioned while the growing concern on national identity continues to be pressing factors. Nevertheless, it has become completely difficult for the citizen and the country's leadership to conceptualize the overall Belgium identity. There is a firm Regional belief in Belgium, which permeate the politics under the national level. The economy, politics, and Belgium history have contributed to the development of a system constituting of intertwined cultural-linguistic and political aspect which make political compromise a rare case. The presence of a dysfunctional political system, lack of compromise, and cultural-linguistic divide have mainly contributed to partitioning the country to two separate countries.

Some propaganda news being given by most politicians suggests that there is no existence of Belgians. The only aspect uniting the countries is the presence of minor aspects such as the football team, the king, and certain beer brands. The existence of such minor segments appear to be widely spread across the country, leading to the emergence of specific believes that Belgium is an artificial, unnatural state. The country's prime minister administered the aspect when he argued that Belgium is a historical accident with no underlying intrinsic value.

The main concern of the existing Belgium condition is the existence of immense political parties' power. The power in the political parties has exasperated or created the cultural-linguistic division, which currently separates the French-speaking Wallonia, and the Dutch-speaking Flanders.the differences have resulted to further divide in Walloon and Flemish identities which have resulted to the weakening of the national identity. In a case of cosmopolitan identity is to be embraced by the European Union, how can the capital of the EU "Brussels" also serve as the capital of a country with diverse cultural tension? Partitioning of Belgium state within the European region cannot cooperate well with the EU is embracing National Unity, supernaturalism, and cooperation.

Literature Review

The current Belgium state was not in existence in early 1830 before the independence. Most of the area covered within Belgium present day was administered and owned by varying powers within the European such as the Netherlands Kingdom and the French Empire. However, larger areas of current Belgium were never owned or administered by other European Powers. Areas such as Prince-Bishopric of Liege, currently known as Liege province, had remained independent for at least 1000 years.

Since Belgium gained independence, the country been experimenting with nation-building aspects, the country was formed by bringing together groups of people with distinct cultures and languages. Flanders occupied by Dutch-speakers, and french-speaking individuals in the southern region of the country commonly referred to as the Wallonia group. After world war 1, a small of German Speaking individuals from the southern region joining the Wallonia as pert of Versailles treaty of 1919 (Thijssen et al. 2019).

The Belgium Kingdom was created in late 1830 during the unison of the central state. The country gained independence from the Netherlands kingdom through the constant occurring revolution from economic and religious grievances against the current Dutch monarch. The newly formed country was initially an unofficial bilingual state consisting of French and Dutch Individuals. At a later stage, French grew to become a de facto language. During the period, the Dutch speakers worked conjointly with the French speakers establishing legitimacy as a nation to ensure recognition by the Netherlands during the Unionism period (Vogt, 2017).

A Flemish Movement was initiated during the Mid-1800 out of Dutch-speaker desires to have rights in their linguistic rights and acknowledgment as the Belgium state and the corresponding french-speaking communities. During the transition period, the influx of bilingual French-speaking and Dutch-speaking individuals was overwhelming. Brussels, as the capital despite being surrounded by the Dutch language and the Flemish culture, remained French-speaking exclave land compared to the southern. During each state reform from 1970, the Wallonia and Flanders changed significantly. Brussel was highly influenced by the French has significantly expanded beyond the city location and the other neighboring regions beyond the speaking communities.

Nationalism and National Identity

Belgian politics are defined by critical issues, such as regional and national identities. Identity is concerned about "belonging" inclusion of collective and individual identity. Individual personality can be defined as non-physical and physical individual qualities such as skin color, income, and sex. On the other hand, collective identity is included aspects such as historical events, culture, race, language, and religion. When discussing the concept of identity is a controversial topic, the primary concern is on collective identity since it plays a role in regional and national identity (Dardanelli, 2018).

In Belgium's case, collective identity is considered to be a product of both the political landscape and the historical process. Identity is argued by most scholars as to the quest for resources of history use, culture, and language. Identity is, therefore, the process of becoming as opposed to being as a definition. Aspects such as personal experience one identity component are defined by bureaucracy, economics, and politics with both regional and local differences. Identity and geography are inextricably tied components. Geographical aspects and identity issues are difficult to separate when evaluating the regional and national identity in Belgium (Devillers et al. 2019).

Additionally, personal experience aspects are tied in the process of uneven economic development, political, and representation. Personal experience cannot be represented without historical and history concerns. There are existing historical and political aspects affecting Belgium identity. Political parties have significantly helped in regional and national identity. Hence it is essential to build an in-depth understanding of the historical context.

Belgian National and Regional Identity

Belgium, as a country, is divided into cultural-linguistic of Flemings and Walloons, which has significantly affected the national identity. The existing tension between the two groups has risen as a result of cultural differences. Despite the impact of cultural differences, political differences have also contributed to shaping Belgium identity. There are underlying economic, political, and historical factors which have enabled the political parties to have a significant impact on both the regional and national identity scenario. Most political parties in Belgium are based on regionalism, which has impacted the entire territory.

Consequently, the regionalism attachment to the nation has significantly reduced among Belgium citizens. The is constant conflict on the issue of political party power. The Belgians speak three distinct languages, which has made it challenging to identify the key driving factors. The issue of language disparity and political parties collective has affected the formation of identity in Belgium. This paper aims at investigating how factors such as economy, politics, regions, and history of Belgium have created a niche in both regional and national identity.

Supporting Evidence

Belgium raised concerns in 2011 by lacking federal government functioning for 541 days compared to 249 days of Iraq's existing record (Dardanelli 2018). There was a real talk on the country partitioning along with the cultural-linguistic factors. The existing divide in cultural-linguistic regions of Flanders in northern occupied by Dutch-speaking and the French-speaking communities within the southern region of Wallonia, which has resulted in a rising identity crisis in Belgium. There has been a rising challenge in the overall identity of the citizens in both the national and regional identities.

Belgium Belief in National and Regional Identity

According to Dardanelli 2018, Belgium can be characterized as an "identity of non-identity." 'Neo-Belgicists' is a new group of intellectuals and scholars who have another perception of Belgium (Vogt, 2017. They argue that their flag, the Belgian flag represents nothing. They go to the extent of saying Belgium "is nothing" based on their national identity. It is a state that has never converged nor promoted a unified identity, according to Flemmings and Walloons believed and iden...