Nation

The nation is a container for ideas about identity and culture, borders and boundaries, common descent and shared history. In its deictic form—“we” the nation—it is rhetorically powerful, alluding to a sense of collective values and goals. When hyphenated to the state, it takes on a formal connotation, bringing to mind government infrastructure and economy. Nation has a normative dimension: we all “ought” to belong to one, or at least have roots in one; and these origins are seen to define us—and to define who does not belong.