Cool Nations: Media and the Social Imaginary of the Branded Country / Edition 1

by Katja Valaskivi

Overview

Nation branding is the most recent feature of imagined nation-making in the history of nations. Facing global competition, national decision-makers aim to distinguish their countries from others by means of branding. Quite a few nations have considered the term ‘cool’ suitable for describing some essence of their country’s brand.

Cool Nations. Media and the Social Imaginary of the Branded Country traces the mediated ways in which the transnational idea of "cool" has circulated from popular culture, fashion, and marketing into describing nations. The book explores the commodification of the nation, the shift to a promotional political culture, and the role of media in contributing to the circulation of the idea of the Cool Nation.

The social imaginary of nation branding takes its theory and practices from marketing, unlike earlier imaginations based on ideas of democracy or citizenship. Cool Nations argues that "cool" is one of the vehicles through which the commodification of nations takes place.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781138014657
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	04/06/2016
Series:	Routledge Advances in Sociology
Pages:	178
Product dimensions:	6.12(w) x 9.19(h) x (d)

About the Author

Katja Valaskivi is the Director of The Tampere Research Centre for Journalism, Media and Communication (COMET) at the School of Communication, Media and Theatre (CMT), University of Tampere, Finland.

Table of Contents

1. Cool Nation: Imagining the nation through branding 2. The Circulation of Cool 3. Nation Branding in Action 4. Manufacturing Authenticity 5. The Population and Consumers of the Cool Nation 6. The Cooling Effect