The nationalism surrounding territorial sovereignty requires a domestic nationalist ecosystem, aka the Nationalist Industrial Complex, to sustain public interest. It focusses on nationalist entrepreneurs representing local merchants who commodify nationalism by building businesses.
This book explores how nationalism surrounding territorial sovereignty requires a domestic nationalist ecosystem, aka the Nationalist Industrial Complex, to sustain public interest. It focusses on nationalist entrepreneurs representing local merchants who commodify nationalism by building businesses that explicitly incorporate elements of territorial sovereignty protection e.g. food and apparel with the insignia of a disputed territory. The author argues that this ‘mundane’ everyday activity of commodification co-constitutes public interest surrounding territorial sovereignty and explains why nationalism might be more contingent than permanent. Despite its prevalence the commodification of nationalism is one of the most under-explored areas. This fresh insight on how everyday nationalism can influence ordinary people’s understanding of or attention to nationalistic issues will be of interest to scholars and students of East Asian international relations, nationalism, security studies, area studies and comparative politics.
Introduction: The business of nationalism
Chapter 1: The Nationalist
Industrial Complex (NIC) & discourses
Chapter 2: Public awareness vs. public
interest
Chapter 3: Dokdo bread, Diaoyudao noodles, and Northern Territories
apparel
Chapter 4: The curious case of trademarks Conclusion: Gatekeepers,
not instigators? Index
Jiun Bang is Assistant Professor of International Relations at Colorado College in Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA. Her thematic research interests include International Relations Theory (IRT), Security Studies, and gender/gendering, with a regional focus on Northeast Asia that typically includes China, Japan, and South Korea. She has published on South Korean female legislators (2023) and the religious far-right in South Korea (2025).
