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It is, therefore, a highly valuable resource, to be mobilised in pursuit of a range of strategies, its value deriving at least partly from what Foucault calls “rarity” (p. 133), in the sense that the number of things said is always infinitely smaller than the number of things that could have been said. As this book shows, the analysed discourses circle obsessively around a small number of constantly reappearing themes; behind them lie very different understandings of what kind of society Germany should be, and behind those very different interests pursuing their own ends.
As Inthorn argues on a number of occasions, in a world of globalising capital we are all obliged to constantly negotiate our identity/identities not only across a number of fields (e.g., age, gender, and race) but also increasingly on a number of levels—local, regional, national, and global. The increasing presence not only of global brands in our everyday lives but also of the growing globalisation of sport and of leisure and cultural activities in general has led some to suggest that the days of the nation-state as a meaningful unit are numbered, if not already over. This book demonstrates that reports of the death of the nation-state are, without any doubt, exaggerated. The particular complex of discourses analysed here was and is only present in Germany. It could not be found in Germany’s German-speaking neighbours, such as Austria or Switzerland, or indeed anywhere else. While the influence of globalisation is undeniable, the nation-state and its media remain a key location for the negotiation of national identity and much more. This wide ranging and engagingly written book offers us an exceptional insight into that process.
Prof. Hugh O’Donnell
Glasgow Caledonian University