Nation, Heimat, Vaterland: The Reinvention of Concepts by the Bavarian CSU

The article employs a post-modern theoretical framework to examine the CSU's ideological construction of the concepts of Nation, Heimat and Vaterland. Discourse theory is used to characterise the dynamics underpinning the party's bid for ideological hegemony in Bavaria. Examples of party rhetoric are placed in their historical context, in order to trace the process of political mobilisation through the definition of concepts. The CSU's articulation of the concept of Heimat is equated with a nationalist construct, one which allows the party to pursue a nation-building strategy within Bavaria whilst avoiding the negative connotations of nationalist ideology in Germany