How does nation relate to race and ethnicity? The common point among all the three terms is that the nation is also an entity that depends on and is constituted by a shared culture. A nation is not a given and contingent historical forces contribute to its construction. Therefore nation as a concept and site of culture may be considered in two levels:

The nation is at once a political organization and not less importantly a matter of cultural representation. It is, like ethnicity and race also discursive and symbolic, though it is a political organization with its territorial boundaries. At an equally important level it is also about representation and in that sense it is also constituted by discourse and symbols. In the discourse of nation, the kindred terms are therefore as follows: