• DOI:10.1111/NANA.12290
• Corpus ID: 152117730

The nationalisation of the domestic sphere

@article{Storm2017TheNO,
  title={The nationalisation of the domestic sphere},
  author={Eric Storm},
  journal={Nations and Nationalism},
  year={2017},
  volume={23},
  pages={173-193}
}

• E. Storm
• Published 2017
• Sociology
• Nations and Nationalism

Banal forms of nationalism permeate our everyday life. However, it is not very clear when all kinds of banal objects and practices became nationalised. In this article, I focus on the domestic sphere by analysing how around 1900 a small group of activists began to propagate the nationalisation of domestic architecture, decorative arts and even gardening. Domestic practices such as cooking, cleaning and consuming were nationalised at about the same time, at least in Western Europe. Although in the beginning the nationalisation of the domestic sphere was perceived as something new, within a few decades the existence of national cuisines and architectural styles was taken for granted. As a consequence, it becomes clear that the nationalisation of the domestic sphere constituted a new and very successful phase in the nation-building process, which now also began to affect quotidian practices and objects in the private realm.