Object Centric Study of Everyday Nationalism in an Australian preschool

Abstract

Materialities of everyday nationalism is more frequently explored today in nationalism studies. Similar attention, however, is missing if we consider young children’s institutional lives. This chapter uses an object centric approach to everyday nationalism to explore how objects gain national significance and weave nationalism into young children’s everyday institutional lives and contribute to their identity formation as national subjects. By analysing two scenarios as cases to learn from, I identify three processes: production, occupation and performance through which objects tie the nation into everyday practices. While everyday nationalism often operates beneath the surface, paying attention to objects and mundane practices in preschools help us understand where and when everyday nationalism is present in children’s preschool lives, when it matters, and how it works. To conclude, I call attention to the need to take objects more seriously in the study of banal nationalism and childhood.