Nations and Nationalism
A nation may refer to a community of people who share a common
language, culture, ethnicity, descent(ancestry0 , or history. In this
definition, a nation has no
physical borders.
It
can also refer to people who share a common territory and government (for
example the inhabitants of a sovereign state) irrespective of their ethnic
make-up.
According
to Joseph Stalin writing in 1913 in Marxism and the National Question:
"a nation is not a racial or
tribal, but a historically constituted community of people;" "a
nation is not a casual or temporary assembly, but a stable community of people"; "a common language is one of the characteristic features of a
nation"; "a nation is formed only as a result of lengthy and systematic intercourse, as a result of people living
together generation after generation"; "a common territory is one of the characteristic features of a
nation"; "a common economic life, economic cohesion, is one of the
characteristic features of a nation"; "a common psychological
make-up, which manifests itself in a common culture, is one of the
characteristic features of a nation"; "A nation is a historically
constituted, stable community of people, formed on the basis of a common
language, territory, economic life, and psychological make-up manifested in a
common culture
An
alternative view, expressed by Otto Bauer is that "A nation is an aggregate of people bound into a community of character by a common
destiny.
Nationalism is a political ideology that involves a strong
identification of a group of individuals with a nation.
There are two main perspectives on the origins and basis of
nationalism:
Primordialist perspective that describes nationalism
as a reflection of the ancient and perceived evolutionary tendency of humans to
organize into distinct grouping based on an affinity of birth;
Modernist perspective that describes nationalism as a
recent phenomenon that requires the structural conditions of modern society.
There are various definitions for what constitutes a nation, however, which
leads to several different strands of nationalism.
It can be a belief
that citizenship in a state should be limited to one ethnic, cultural,
religious, or identity group, or that multinationality in a single state should
necessarily comprise the right to express and exercise national identity even
by minorities
The adoption of national identity in terms of historical
development, has commonly been the result of a response by an influential group
or groups that is unsatisfied with traditional identities due to inconsistency
between their defined social order and the experience of that social order by
its members, resulting in a situation of anomie that
nationalists seek to resolve. This anomie results in a society or societies
reinterpreting identity, retaining elements that are deemed acceptable and
removing elements deemed unacceptable, in order to create a unified community.
This development may be the result of internal structural issues or the result
of resentment by an existing group or groups towards other communities,
especially foreign powers that are deemed to be controlling them.
Nationalism may involve several recognized nations being
involved in a single goal of self-determination uniting the nations, such as
binationalism or multinationalism, examples of this occurred in Austria-Hungary,
Belgium,
and Czechoslovakia.
National flags, national
anthems, and other symbols of national identity are commonly
considered highly important symbols of the national community.
Varieties of
nationalism
Civic nationalism
Civic nationalism (also known as liberal nationalism) defines the nation as an
association of people who identify themselves as belonging to the nation, who
have equal and shared political rights,
and allegiance to similar political procedures.
According to the
principles of civic nationalism, the nation is not based on common ethnic ancestry, but is a political entity
whose core identity is not ethnicity.
Civic nationalism lies within the traditions
of rationalism
and liberalism,
but as a form of nationalism it is contrasted with ethnic nationalism. Membership of the civic nation is
considered voluntary,
Ethnocentrism
Whereas nationalism does not
necessarily imply a belief in the superiority of one
ethnicity over others, some nationalists support ethnocentric
protectionism or ethnocentric supremacy. Studies have yielded evidence that
such behaviour may be derived from innate preferences in humans from infancy.
This
is judging another culture solely from the values and standards of one’s own
culture
Fascism
Fascism is a radical authoritarian nationalist political ideology.
Fascists seek elevation of their nation based on commitment to an organic national community
where its individuals are united together as one people in national
identity by suprapersonal connections of ancestry
and culture
through a totalitarian state that seeks the mass
mobilization of a nation through discipline, war, indoctrination, physical
training.
Fascism seeks to
eradicate perceived foreign influences that are deemed to be causing degeneration
of the nation or of not fitting into the national culture.
National purity
Some nationalists exclude certain groups. Some nationalists,
defining the national community in ethnic, linguistic, cultural, historic, or
religious terms (or a combination of these), may then seek to deem certain
minorities as not truly being a part of the 'national community' as they define
it. Sometimes a mythic homeland is more important for the national identity than
the actual territory occupied by the nation. This could be seen in some single
race countries such as South Korea where the nation comprises people from one
race, and where mythical origins of the 'race of the land' are pervasive
amongst the populace.
Left-wing nationalism
Left-wing nationalism (occasionally known
as socialist
nationalism refers to any
political movement that combines left-wing politics with nationalism. Many
nationalist movements are dedicated to national liberation, in the view that
their nations are being persecuted by other nations and thus need to exercise self-determination by liberating themselves
from the accused persecutors.
Territorial nationalism
Territorial nationalists assume that all inhabitants of a
particular nation owe allegiance to their country of birth or adoption. A
sacred quality is sought in the nation and in the popular memories it evokes.
Citizenship is idealized by territorial nationalist. A criterion of a territorial nationalism is
the establishment of a mass, public culture based on common values and
traditions of the population as in Brazil
Pan-nationalism
Pan-nationalism is unique in
that it covers a large area span. Pan-nationalism focuses more on
"clusters" of ethnic groups.
Proto-nationalism
Proto-nationalism refers
to the nationalism that people feel for a connection to a particular indigenous
or ethnic identity which is unconnected from the national identity. It also
refers to a "nationalism" that existed before the foundation of a
nation-state. It thus describes a nation-less nationalism.
Ultra-nationalism
Ultranationalism is a zealous
nationalism that expresses extremist support for one's nationalist ideals. It
is often characterized by authoritarianism,
efforts toward reduction or stoppage of immigration, expulsion and or
oppression of non-native populations or minorities within the nation or its
territories, emotionalism, real, or imagined enemies, predicating the existence
of threats to the survival of the native, dominant or otherwise idealized
national ethnicity or population group.
Instigation or extremist reaction to crack-down policies in
law enforcement, efforts to limit international trade through tariffs, tight
control over businesses and production, militarism, populism and propaganda.
Prevalent ultranationalism typically leads to or is the result of conflict
within a state, and or between states, and is identified as a condition of
pre-war in national politics
Anti-colonial nationalism
This form of nationalism came about during the decolonialisation
of the post war period. It was a reaction mainly in Africa and Asia against
being subdued by foreign powers. This form of nationalism took many guises,
including the peaceful passive resistance movement led by Gandhi in the Indian
subcontinent .
Benedict Anderson
argued that anti-colonial nationalism is grounded in the experience of literate
and bilingual indigenous intellectuals fluent in the language of the imperial
power, schooled in its "national" history, and staffing the colonial
administrative cadres up to but not including its highest levels. Post-colonial
national governments have been essentially indigenous forms of the previous
imperial (royal) administration.
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