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Nationalism

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Culture and Diversity;
Politics and government

   Eugène Delacroix's Liberty Leading the People, symbolizing French
   nationalism during the July Revolution.
   Enlarge
   Eugène Delacroix's Liberty Leading the People, symbolizing French
   nationalism during the July Revolution.

   Nationalism is an ideology that holds that a nation is the fundamental
   unit for human social life, and takes precedence over any other social
   and political principles. Nationalism typically makes certain political
   claims based upon this belief: above all, the claim that the nation is
   the only fully legitimate basis for a state, that each nation is
   entitled to its own state, and that the borders of the state should be
   congruent with the borders of the nation. Nationalism refers to both a
   political doctrine and any collective action by political and social
   movements on behalf of specific nations. Nationalism has had an
   enormous influence upon world history, since the nation-state has
   become the dominant form of state organization. Most of the world's
   population now lives in states which are, at least nominally,
   nation-states. Historians also use the term "nationalism" to refer to
   this historical transition, and to the emergence of nationalist
   ideology and movements.

Principles of Nationalism

   This section sets out the components of nationalist ideology as seen by
   nationalists themselves. (Academic theories of nationalism are
   skeptical of some of these beliefs and principles, see below).

   Nationalism is a form of universalism when it makes universal claims
   about how the world should be organised, but it is particularistic with
   regard to individual nations. The combination of both is characteristic
   for the ideology, for instance in these assertions:
     * "in a nation-state, the language of the nation should be the
       official language, and all citizens should speak it, and not a
       foreign language."
     * "the official language of Denmark should be Danish, and all Danish
       citizens should speak it."

   The universalistic principles bring nationalism into conflict with
   competing forms of universalism, the particularistic principles bring
   specific nationalist movements into conflict with rival nationalisms -
   for instance, the Danish-German tensions over their reciprocal
   linguistic minorities.

   The starting point of nationalism is the existence of nations, which it
   takes as a given. Nations are typically seen as entities with a long
   history: most nationalists do not believe a nation can be created
   artificially. Nationalist movements see themselves as the
   representative of an existing, centuries-old nation. However, some
   theories of nationalism imply the reverse order - that the nationalist
   movements created the sense of national identity, and then a political
   unit corresponding to it, or that an existing state promoted a
   'national' identity for itself.

   Nationalists see nations as an inclusive categorisation of human beings
   - assigning every individual to one specific nation. In fact,
   nationalism sees most human activity as national in character. Nations
   have national symbols, a national culture, a national music and
   national literature; national folklore, a national mythology and - in
   some cases - even a national religion. Individuals share national
   values and a national identity, admire the national hero, eat the
   national dish and play the national sport.

   Nationalists define individual nations on the basis of certain
   criteria, which distinguish one nation from another; and determine who
   is a member of each nation. These criteria typically include a shared
   language, culture, and/or shared values which are predominantly
   represented within a specific ethnic group. National identity refers
   both to these defining criteria, and to the shared heritage of each
   group. Membership in a nation is usually involuntary and determined by
   birth. Individual nationalisms vary in their degree of internal
   uniformity: some are monolithic, and tolerate little variance from the
   national norms. Academic nationalism theory emphasises that national
   identity is contested, reflecting differences in region, class, gender,
   and language or dialect. A recent development is the idea of a national
   core culture, in Germany the Leitkultur, which emphasises a minimal set
   of non-negotiable values: this is primarily a strategy of cultural
   assimilation in response to immigration.

   Nationalism has a strong territorial component, with an inclusive
   categorisation of territory corresponding to the categorisation of
   individuals. For each nation, there is a territory which is uniquely
   associated with it, the national homeland, and together they account
   for most habitable land. This is reflected in the geopolitical claims
   of nationalism, which seeks to order the world as a series of
   nation-states, each based on the national homeland of its respective
   nation. Territorial claims characterise the politics of nationalist
   movements. Established nation-states also make an implicit territorial
   claim, to secure their own continued existence: sometimes it is
   specified in the national constitution. In the nationalist view, each
   nation has a moral entitlement to a sovereign state: this is usually
   taken as a given.

   The nation-state is intended to guarantee the existence of a nation, to
   preserve its distinct identity, and to provide a territory where the
   national culture and ethos are dominant - nationalism is also a
   philosophy of the state. It sees a nation-state as a necessity for each
   nation: secessionist national movements often complain about their
   second-class status as a minority within another nation. This specific
   view of the duties of the state influenced the introduction of national
   education systems, often teaching a standard curriculum, national
   cultural policy, and national language policy. In turn, nation-states
   appeal to a national cultural-historical mythos to justify their
   existence, and to confer political legitimacy - acquiescence of the
   population in the authority of the government.

   Nationalists recognise that 'non-national' states exist and existed,
   but do not see them as a legitimate form of state. The struggles of
   early nationalist movements were often directed against such
   non-national states, specifically multi-ethnic empires such as
   Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire. Most multi-ethnic empires have
   disappeared, but some secessionist movements see Russia and China as
   comparable non-national, imperial states. At least one modern state is
   clearly not a nation-state: the Vatican City exists solely to provide a
   sovereign territorial unit for the Roman Catholic Church.

   Nationalism as ideology includes ethical principles: that the moral
   duties of individuals to fellow members of the nation override those to
   non-members. Nationalism claims that national loyalty, in case of
   conflict, overrides local loyalties, and all other loyalties to family,
   friends, profession, religion, or class.

Theory of nationalism

Background and problems

   Specific examples of nationalism are extremely diverse, the issues are
   emotional, and the conflicts often bloody. The theory of nationalism
   has always been complicated by this background, and by the intrusion of
   nationalist ideology into the theory. There are also national
   differences in the theory of nationalism, since people define
   nationalism on the basis of their local experience. Theory (and media
   coverage) may overemphasise conflicting nationalist movements, ethnic
   tension, and war - diverting attention from general theoretical issues;
   for instance, the characteristics of nation-states.

   Nationalist movements are surrounded by other nationalist movements and
   nations, and this may colour their version of nationalism. It may focus
   purely on self-determination, and ignore other nations. When conflicts
   arise, however, ideological attacks upon the identity and legitimacy of
   the 'enemy' nationalism may become the focus. In the
   Israeli-Palestinian conflict, for instance, both sides have claimed
   that the other is not a 'real' nation, and therefore has no right to a
   state. Jingoism and chauvinism make exaggerated claims about the
   superiority of one nation over another. National stereotypes are also
   common, and are usually insulting. This kind of negative nationalism,
   directed at other nations, is certainly a nationalist phenomenon, but
   not a sufficient basis for a general theory of nationalism.

Issues in nationalism theory

   The first studies of nationalism were generally historical accounts of
   nationalist movements. At the end of the 19th century, Marxists and
   other socialists produced political analyses that were critical of the
   nationalist movements then active in central and eastern Europe. Most
   sociological theories of nationalism date from after the Second World
   War. Some nationalism theory is about issues which concern nationalists
   themselves, such as who belongs to the nation and who does not, as well
   as the precise meaning of 'belonging'.

Origin of nations and nationalism

   Recent general theory has looked at underlying issues, and above all
   the question of which came first, nations or nationalism. Nationalist
   activists see themselves as representing a pre-existing nation, and the
   primordialist theory of nationalism agrees. It sees nations, or at
   least ethnic groups, as a social reality dating back twenty thousand
   years.

   The modernist theories imply that until around 1800, almost no-one had
   more than local loyalties. National identity and unity were originally
   imposed from above, by European states, because they were necessary to
   modernise economy and society. In this theory, nationalist conflicts
   are an unintended side-effect. For example, Ernest Gellner argued that
   nations are a by-product of industrialization, which required a large
   literate and culturally homogeneous population. According to Charles
   Tilly, states promoted nationalism in order to assure the popular
   consent with conscription into large modern armies and taxation, which
   was necessary to maintain such armies. According to the modernist view,
   the first true nation state was created by the French Revolution,
   though the tendencies have existed since the beginning of the Modern
   Era. In addition to the top-down nationalism, there were also cases of
   the bottom-up nationalism, such as the German Romantic nationalism,
   materialized in the resistance against Napoleon.

   More recent theorists of nationalism emphasise that nations are a
   socially constructed phenomenon. Benedict Anderson, for example,
   described nations as " imagined communities". Gellner comments:
   "Nationalism is not the awakening of nations to self-consciousness: it
   invents nations where they do not exist." (Anderson and Gellner deploy
   terms such as 'imagined' and 'invent' in a neutral, descriptive manner.
   The use of these terms in this context is not intended to imply that
   nations are fictional or fantastic.) Modernisation theorists see such
   things as the printing press and capitalism as necessary conditions for
   nationalism.

   Anthony D. Smith proposed a synthesis of primordialist and modernist
   views. According to Smith, the preconditions for the formation of a
   nation are as follows:
     * A fixed homeland (current or historical)
     * High autonomy
     * Hostile surroundings
     * Memories of battles
     * Sacred centres
     * Languages and scripts
     * Special customs
     * Historical records and thinking

   Those preconditions may create powerful common mythology. Therefore,
   the mythic homeland is in reality more important for the national
   identity than the actual territory occupied by the nation. Smith also
   posits that nations are formed through the inclusion of the whole
   populace (not just elites), constitution of legal and political
   institutions, nationalist ideology, international recognition and
   drawing up of borders.

Theoretical literature on nationalism

   There is a large amount of theoretical and empirical literature on
   nationalism. The following is a minimal selection, and a series of
   capsule summaries that do not do justice to the range of views
   expressed.
     * Anderson, Benedict. 1991. Imagined Communities. 2nd ed. London:
       Verso. Anderson argues that nations are imagined political
       communities, and are imagined to be limited and sovereign. Their
       development is due to the decline of other types of imagined
       community, especially in the face of capitalist production of print
       media.
     * Armstrong, John. 1982. Nations Before Nationalism. Armstrong traces
       the development of national identities from origins in antiquity
       and the medieval world.
     * Breuilly, John. 1992. Nationalism and the State. 2nd ed.
       Manchester: Manchester University Press. This approach focuses on
       the politics of nationalism, in particular on nationalism as a
       response to the imperatives of the modern state. It employs the
       mode of comparative history to study a large number of different
       cases of nationalism.
     * Gellner, Ernest. 1983. Nations and Nationalism. Oxford: Blackwell.
       This work links nationalism to the homogenising imperatives of
       industrial society and the reactions of minority cultures to those
       imperatives.
     * Greenfeld, Liah. 1992. Nationalism: Five Roads to Modernity.
       Cambridge: Harvard University Press. Greenfeld argues that
       nationalism existed at an earlier age than previously thought: as
       early as the sixteenth century in the case of England.
     * Hechter, Michael. 1975. Internal Colonialism. London: Routledge and
       Kegan Paul. Hechter attributes nationalism in the "Celtic fringe"
       of Britain and Ireland to the reinforcing divisions of culture and
       the division of labour.
     * Hobsbawm, Eric, and Ranger, Terence, eds. 1983. The Invention of
       Tradition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. This collection
       of essays, especially Hobsbawm's introduction and chapter on
       turn-of-the-century Europe, argues that the nation is a prominent
       type of invented tradition.
     * Kedourie, Elie. 1960. Nationalism. London: Hutchinson. Kedourie
       focuses on the role of disaffected German intellectuals in
       developing the doctrine of nationalism at the beginning of the
       nineteenth century from Kant's idea of the autonomy of the will and
       Herder's belief in the primacy of linguistic communities in
       establishing modes of thought.
     * Kedourie, Elie, ed. 1971. Nationalism in Asia and Africa. London:
       Weidenfeld and Nicolson. Kedourie's introduction to this volume of
       nationalist texts extends his analysis in his earlier work to the
       efforts of intellectuals in colonial states.
     * Nairn, Tom. 1977. The Break-up of Britain. London: New Left Books.
       Marxist historian Nairn traces nationalism to the confrontation of
       colonialism, which leaves indigenous elites without recourse to any
       resources but their own population.
     * Smith, Anthony D. 1986. The Ethnic Origins of Nations. Oxford:
       Blackwell. Smith traces modern nations and nationalism to
       pre-modern ethnic sources, arguing for the existence of an "ethnic
       core" in modern nations.

Historical evolution of nationalism

Prior to 1900

   Gradual unification of independent principalities into an Italian
   nation state in 1815-1870
   Enlarge
   Gradual unification of independent principalities into an Italian
   nation state in 1815-1870

   Most theories of nationalism assume a European origin of the
   nation-state. The modern state is often seen as emerging with the
   Treaty of Westphalia in 1648, though this view is disputed. This treaty
   created the 'Westphalian system' of states, which recognised each
   other's sovereignty and territory. Some of the signatories, such as the
   Dutch Republic, qualify as a nation-state, but in 1648 most states in
   Europe were still non-national.

   Many, but not all, see the major transition to nation-states as
   originating in the late 18th and 19th centuries. Beginning with
   romantic nationalism, nationalist movements arose throughout Europe, a
   process accelerated by the French Revolution and the conquests of
   Napoleon Bonaparte. Some of these movements were separatist, directed
   against large empires: an early example is the Greek Revolution
   (1821-1829). Others sought to unify a divided or fragmented territory,
   as in the Italian unification under the rule of Piedmont- Sardinia.
   These movements promoted a national identity and culture: in the 1848
   Revolutions in Europe they were often associated with liberal demands.
   By the end of the 19th century most people accepted that Europe was
   divided into nations, and personally identified with one of these
   nations. The collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the Ottoman
   Empire after the First World War accelerated the formation of
   nation-states.

   According to the standard view, before the 19th century people had
   local, regional, or religious loyalties, but no idea of nationhood. The
   typical state in Europe was a dynastic state, ruled by a royal house:
   if there were any loyalties above regional level, they were owed to the
   king and the ruling house. Dynastic states could acquire territory by
   royal marriage, and lose it by division of inheritance - which is now
   seen as absurd. Nationalism introduced the idea that each nation has a
   specific territory, and that beyond this point the claims of other
   nations apply. Nation-states, in principle, do not seek to conquer
   territory. However, nationalist movements rarely agreed on where the
   border should be. As the nationalist movements grew, they introduced
   new territorial disputes in Europe.

   Nationalism also determined the political life of 19th century Europe.
   Where the nation was part of an empire, the national liberation
   struggle was also a struggle against older autocratic regimes, and
   nationalism was allied with liberal anti-monarchical movements. Where
   the nation-state was a consolidation of an older monarchy, as in Spain,
   nationalism was itself conservative and monarchical. Most nationalist
   movements began in opposition to the existing order, but by the 20th
   century, there were regimes which primarily identified themselves as
   nationalist.

   The standard theory of the 19th-century origin of nation-states is
   disputed. One problem with it is that the South American independence
   struggles and the American Revolution ( American War of Independence)
   predate most European nationalist movements. Some countries, such as
   the Netherlands and England, seem to have had a clear national identity
   well before the 19th century.

20th Century nationalism

   By the end of the 19th century, nationalist ideas had begun to spread
   to Asia. In India, nationalism began to encourage calls for the end of
   British rule. The 20th century nationalist movement in India is
   generally associated with Mahatma Gandhi, although many other leaders
   were involved as well. In China, nationalism influenced the 1911
   Revolution. In Japan, nationalism and Japanese " exceptionalism"
   influenced Japanese imperialism.

   World War I led to to the creation of new nation-states in Europe. This
   was encouraged by the United States, which rejected the legitimacy of
   the former multi-ethnic empires, see Wilsonianism. France, which sought
   to to isolate Germany and Austria, also encouraged the creation of
   potential client states. The Ottoman Empire and the Austro-Hungarian
   Empire disintegrated. The Versailles Treaty, based upon US President
   Wilson's Fourteen Points, partially conformed the division into new
   nation-states. In the Middle East, the Arab Revolt did not lead to new
   independent states: the victorious western powers secured a League of
   Nations mandate for Iraq, Lebanon, Palestine including Transjordan, and
   Syria. The Turkish War of Independence (1919-1923) created a new nation
   state from the core of the Ottoman Empire. In the east of Europe, the
   Russian Empire had collapsed, as a result of the Russian Revolution of
   1917. The Anglo-Irish War led to the partition of Ireland into the
   Irish Free State and Northern Ireland.

   However, multi-nation and multi-ethnic states survived in Europe; and
   two new ones emerged, Czechoslovakia (where the more prosperous Czech
   half dominated), and the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, (dominated by Serbia).
   In the interwar period, the extreme nationalist movements of fascism
   and Nazism came to power in Italy and Germany respectively, and similar
   groups took over several other European countries during the late
   1930s. This new wave of nationalism had powerful racist undertones, and
   it culminated in World War II and the Holocaust.

   The horrors of World War II discredited militant nationalism as an
   ideology, but scarcely altered the division of Europe into
   nation-states. Outside Europe, the war initiated a new wave of
   nation-state formation, through the independence of African and Asian
   nations from European colonial empires. The most dramatic
   decolonisation began in the late 1950's in Africa, which was
   transformed from a collection of European colonies into a continent of
   nation-states. Few of them corresponded to the ideal nation-state (one
   nation, one language, one culture), but most still exist. Ironically,
   the one that best met those criteria, Somalia, disintegrated. The
   Algerian War of Independence was the most bloody of the decolonisation
   wars in Africa: some decolonisations were peaceful. Rhodesia and the
   Portuguese colonies of Mozambique and Angola delayed decolonisation for
   a time.

   The collapse of the Soviet Union led to an unexpected revival of
   national movements in Europe around 1990. Its constituent states became
   independent: Belarus, Ukraine, Moldova, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan,
   Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia.
   The three Baltic states, Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania, regained
   indpendence, (they had already become independent from Russia after the
   First World War). The second Yugoslavia broke up into nation states,
   some with predecessor states such as the Nazi-oriented Independent
   State of Croatia, some as new sovereign states. Within established
   nation-states, there are many secessionist movements, some of them
   seeking the creation of a new sovereign state, for instance in Quebec.
   The unresolved status of in Northern Ireland led to protracted violence
   known as The Troubles, but without changes in the border.

   In the second half of the 20th century, some trends emerged which might
   indicate a weakening of the nation-state and nationalism. The European
   Union is widely seen transferring power from the national level, to
   both sub-national and supra-national levels. Critics of globalization
   often appeal to feelings of national identity, culture, and
   sovereignty. Free trade agreements, such as NAFTA and the GATT, and the
   increasing internationalisation of trade markets, are seen as damaging
   to the national economy, and have led to a revival of economic
   nationalism. Protest movements vehemently oppose these negative aspects
   of globalization, (see Anti-globalisation).

   Not all anti-globalists are nationalists, but nationalism continues to
   assert itself in response to those trends. Nationalist parties continue
   to do well in elections, and most people continue to have a strong
   sense of attachment to their nationality. Moreover, globalism and
   European federalism are not always opposed to nationalism. For example,
   theorists of Chinese nationalism within the People's Republic of China
   have articulated the idea that China's national power is substantially
   enhanced, rather than being reduced, by engaging in international trade
   and multinational organizations. For a time sub-national groups such as
   Catalan autonomists and Welsh nationalists supported a stronger
   European Union in the hope that a Europe of the regions would limit the
   power of the present nation-states. However, with Euroscepticism now
   widespread in the EU, this transformation is no longer on its political
   agenda.

Language and Nationalism

   A common language has been a defining characteristic of the nation, and
   an ideal for nationalists. For example, in France before the French
   Revolution, regional languages such as Breton and Occitan were spoken,
   which were mutually incomprehensible. Standard French was also spoken
   in large parts of the country and had also been the language of
   administration, but after the Revolution it was imposed as the national
   language in non-French-speaking regions. For instance, in Brittany,
   Celtic names were forbidden. The formation of nation-states, and their
   consolidation after independence, is generally accompanied by policies
   to restrict, replace, or abandon minority languages. This accelerates
   the tendency noted in sociolinguistic research that high-status
   languages displace low-status languages. See also: Language policy in
   France.

   Some theorists believe that nationalism became pronounced in the 19th
   century simply because language became a more important unifier due to
   increased literacy. With more people reading newspapers, books,
   pamphlets and so on, which were increasingly widely available to read
   since the spread of the printing press, it became possible for the
   first time to develop a broader cultural attachment beyond the local
   community. At the same time, differences in language solidified,
   breaking down old dialects, and excluding those from completely
   different language groups.

   Nationalist movements from Ireland to India promote the teaching,
   revival preservation, and use of traditional languages, such as Celtic
   languages, Hebrew, and Hindi. (See also: Language revival.)

   The United States, a country which historically welcomed immigrants of
   varying nationality, has what can be seen as a pattern of
   discrimination against languages other than English. Prominent examples
   are the German language, which was nearly eradicated during World War
   I, and French and Italian, which have nearly disappeared from everyday
   life. Today Spanish is a second language across large portion of the
   country. Some politicians, such as Pat Buchanan have consciously
   opposed the rise of Spanish as a second American language, for fear
   that it would undermine unity in the American national character.

   In the Arab World during the colonial period, the Turkish language,
   French language, Spanish language and English language were often
   imposed, although the intensity of imposition varied widely. When the
   colonial period ended (mostly after World War Two), a process of
   "Arabisation" began; reviving Arabic to unify their states and to
   facilitate a broader Arab identity, motivated by Pan-Arabism. Countries
   such as Algeria and Western Sahara underwent large scale Arabisations,
   changing from French and Spanish to Arabic respectively.

   However, within the Arab World, some nationalistic attempts were made
   to emancipate a domestic vernacular and treat classical Arabic as a
   formal foreign language, which was often incomprehensible to the
   non-literate population of nominally Arab countries, which were
   politically - but not necessarily linguistically, culturally or
   ethnically, Arabized. These policies were first promoted in Egypt in
   the early 20th century by the Egyptian scholar and nationalist Ahmad
   Lutfi al-Sayyid, who called for the formalization of the Egyptian
   Vernacular as the native language of the Egyptian people.

   Similar attempts to emphasise minority languages completely independent
   of Arabic were made by the Nubians, speakers of Nobiinm who are split
   between Egypt and Sudan, and relatively more successfully by the
   Imazighen (commonly known as Berber) in Morocco.

Types of nationalism

   Nationalism may manifest itself as part of official state ideology or
   as a popular (non-state) movement and may be expressed along civic,
   ethnic, cultural, religious or ideological lines. These
   self-definitions of the nation are used to classify types of
   nationalism. However, such categories are not mutually exclusive and
   many nationalist movements combine some or all of these elements to
   varying degrees. Nationalist movements can also be classified by other
   criteria, such as scale and location.

   Some political theorists make the case that any distinction between
   forms of nationalism is false. In all forms of nationalism, the
   populations believe that they share some kind of common culture, and
   culture can never be wholly separated from ethnicity. The United
   States, for example, has "God" on its coinage and in its Pledge of
   Allegiance, and designates official holidays which are seen by some to
   promote cultural biases. The United States has an ethnic theory of
   being American ( nativism), and, for a short period in the 20th
   Century, had a committee to investigate Un-American Activities.

Civic nationalism

   Civic nationalism (or civil nationalism) is the form of nationalism in
   which the state derives political legitimacy from the active
   participation of its citizenry, from the degree to which it represents
   the "will of the people". It is often seen as originating with
   Jean-Jacques Rousseau and especially the social contract theories which
   take their name from his 1762 book The Social Contract. 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. Civic-national
   ideals influenced the development of representative democracy in
   countries such as the United States and France.

Ethnic nationalism

   Ethnic nationalism, or ethnonationalism, defines the nation in terms of
   ethnicity, which always includes some element of descent from previous
   generations. It also includes ideas of a culture shared between members
   of the group and with their ancestors, and usually a shared language.
   Membership in the nation is hereditary. The state derives political
   legitimacy from its status as homeland of the ethnic group, and from
   its function to protect the national group and facilitate its cultural
   and social life, as a group. Ideas of ethnicity are very old, but
   modern ethnic nationalism was heavily influenced by Johann Gottfried
   von Herder, who promoted the concept of the Volk, and Johann Gottlieb
   Fichte. Ethnic nationalism is now the dominant form, and is often
   simply referred to as "nationalism". Note that the theorist Anthony
   Smith uses the term 'ethnic nationalism' for non-Western concepts of
   nationalism, as opposed to Western views of a nation defined by its
   geographical territory. (The term " ethnonationalism" is generally used
   only in reference to nationalists who espouse an explicit ideology
   along these lines; " ethnic nationalism" is the more generic term, and
   used for nationalists who hold these beliefs in an informal,
   instinctive, or unsystematic way. The pejorative form of both is
   "ethnocentric nationalism" or "tribal nationalism," though "tribal
   nationalism" can have a non-pejorative meaning when discussing African,
   Native American, or other nationalisms that openly assert a tribal
   identity.)

Romantic nationalism

   Romantic nationalism (also organic nationalism, identity nationalism)
   is the form of ethnic nationalism in which the state derives political
   legitimacy as a natural ("organic") consequence and expression of the
   nation, or race. It reflected the ideals of Romanticism and was opposed
   to Enlightenment rationalism. Romantic nationalism emphasised a
   historical ethnic culture which meets the Romantic Ideal; folklore
   developed as a Romantic nationalist concept. The Brothers Grimm were
   inspired by Herder's writings to create an idealised collection of
   tales which they labeled as ethnically German. Historian Jules Michelet
   exemplifies French romantic-nationalist history.

Cultural nationalism

   Cultural nationalism defines the nation by shared culture. Membership
   in the nation is neither entirely voluntary (you cannot instantly
   acquire a culture), nor hereditary (children of members may be
   considered foreigners if they grew up in another culture). Chinese
   nationalism is one example of cultural nationalism, partly because of
   the many national minorities in China. (The 'Chinese nationalists'
   include those on Taiwan who reject the mainland Chinese government but
   claim the mainland Chinese state).

Liberal nationalism

   Liberal nationalism is a kind of nationalism defended recently by
   political philosophers who believe that there can be a non-xenophobic
   form of nationalism compatible with liberal values of freedom,
   tolerance, equality, and individual rights (Tamir 1993; Kymlicka 1995;
   Miller 1995). Ernest Renan (1882) and John Stuart Mill (1861) are often
   thought to be early liberal nationalists. Liberal nationalists often
   defend the value of national identity by saying that individuals need a
   national identity in order to lead meaningful, autonomous lives
   (Kymlicka 1995; for criticism see Patten 1999) and that liberal
   democratic polities need national identity in order to function
   properly (Miller 1995; for criticism see Abizadeh 2002, 2004).

State nationalism

   State nationalism is a variant on civic nationalism, very often
   combined with ethnic nationalism. It implies that the nation is a
   community of those who contribute to the maintenance and strength of
   the state, and that the individual exists to contribute to this goal.
   Italian fascism is the best example, epitomised in this slogan of
   Mussolini: "Tutto nello Stato, niente al di fuori dello Stato, nulla
   contro lo Stato." ("Everything in the State, nothing outside the State,
   nothing against the State"). It is no surprise that this conflicts with
   liberal ideals of individual liberty, and with liberal-democratic
   principles. The revolutionary (liberal) Jacobin creation of a unitary
   and centralist French state is often seen as the original version of
   state nationalism. Franquist Spain, and contemporary Turkish
   nationalism are later examples of state nationalism.

   However, the term "state nationalism" is often used in conflicts
   between nationalisms, and especially where a secessionist movement
   confronts an established nation state. The secessionists speak of state
   nationalism to discredit the legitimacy of the larger state, since
   state nationalism is perceived as less authentic and less democratic.
   Flemish separatists speak of Belgian nationalism as a state
   nationalism. Basque separatists and Corsican separatists refer to Spain
   and France, respectively, in this way. There are no undisputed external
   criteria to assess which side is right, and the result is usually that
   the population is divided by conflicting appeals to its loyalty and
   patriotism.

Religious nationalism

   Religious nationalism defines the nation in terms of shared religion,
   usually along with other factors such as culture, ethnicity, and
   language. If the state derives political legitimacy from adherence to
   religious doctrines, then it is more of a theocracy than a
   nation-state. Many ethnic and cultural nationalisms include religious
   aspects, but as a marker of group identity, rather than the intrinsic
   motivation for nationalist claims. Irish nationalism is associated with
   Roman Catholicism, and most Irish nationalist leaders of the last 100
   years were Catholic, although many of the early (18th century)
   nationalists were Protestant. Irish nationalism does not itself derive
   from Roman Catholic theological doctrines, although some Protestants in
   Northern Ireland do fear that these doctrines will be forced on them,
   in a united Ireland. Similarly, although Religious Zionism exists and
   influences many, the mainstream of Zionism is more secular in nature,
   and based on culture and Jewish ethnicity. Since the partition of
   British India, Indian nationalism has often been associated with
   Hinduism, although there is also a secular and anti- communalist
   version. In modern India, a contemporary form of Hindu nationalism, or
   Hindutva has been prominent among many followers of the Bharatiya
   Janata Party and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. Religious nationalism
   characterized by communal adherence to Eastern Orthodoxy and national
   Orthodox Churches is still prevalent in many states of Eastern Europe
   and in the Russian Federation.

Pan-nationalism

   Pan-nationalism is usually an ethnic and cultural nationalism, but the
   'nation' is itself a cluster of related ethnic groups and cultures,
   such as Turkic peoples. Occasionally pan-nationalism is applied to
   mono-ethnic nationalism, when the national group is dispersed over a
   wide area and several states - as in Pan-Germanism.

Diaspora nationalism

   Diaspora nationalism (or, as Benedict Anderson terms it, "long-distance
   nationalism") generally refers to nationalist feeling among a diaspora
   such as the Irish in the United States, or the Lebanese in the Americas
   and Africa, and the Armenians in Europe and the United States. Anderson
   states that this sort of nationalism acts as a "phantom bedrock" for
   people who want to experience a national connection, but who do not
   actually want to leave their diaspora community. The essential
   difference between pan-nationalism and diaspora nationalism is that
   members of a diaspora, by definition, are no longer resident in their
   national or ethnic homeland. In the specific case of Zionism, the
   national movement advocates migration to the claimed national homeland,
   which would - if 100% effected - end the diaspora.

Nationalism within a nation

   With the establishment of a nation-state, the primary goal of any
   nationalist movement has been achieved. However, nationalism does not
   disappear but remains a political force within the nation, and inspires
   political parties and movements. The terms nationalist and 'nationalist
   politician’ are often used to describe these movements; nationalistic
   would be more accurate. Nationalists in this sense typically campaign
   for:
     * strengthening national unity, including campaigns for national
       salvation in times of crisis.
     * emphasising the national identity and rejecting foreign influences,
       influenced by cultural conservatism and in extreme cases,
       xenophobia.
     * limiting non-national populations on the national territory,
       especially by limiting immigration and, in extreme cases, by ethnic
       cleansing.
     * annexing territory which is considered part of the national
       homeland. This is called irredentism, from the Italian movement
       Italia irredenta.
     * economic nationalism, which is the promotion of the national
       interest in economic policy, especially through protectionism and
       in opposition to free trade policies.

   Nationalist parties and nationalist politicians, in this sense, usually
   place great emphasis on national symbols, such as the national flag.

   The term 'nationalism' is also used by extension, or as a metaphor, to
   describe movements which promote a group identity of some kind. This
   use is especially common in the United States, and includes black
   nationalism and white nationalism in a cultural sense. They may overlap
   with nationalism in the classic sense, including black secessionist
   movements and pan-Africanism.

   Nationalists obviously have a positive attitude toward their own
   nation, although this is not a definition of nationalism. The emotional
   appeal of nationalism is visible even in established and stable
   nation-states. The social psychology of nations includes national
   identity (the individual’s sense of belonging to a group), and national
   pride (self-association with the success of the group). National pride
   is related to the cultural influence of the nation, and its economic
   and political strength - although they may be exaggerated. However, the
   most important factor is that the emotions are shared: nationalism in
   sport includes the shared disappointment if the national team loses.

   The emotions can be purely negative: a shared sense of threat can unify
   the nation. However, dramatic events, such as defeat in war, can
   qualitatively affect national identity and attitudes to non-national
   groups. The defeat of Germany in World War I, and the perceived
   humiliation by the Treaty of Versailles, economic crisis and
   hyperinflation, created a climate for xenophobia, revanchism, and the
   rise of Nazism. The solid bourgeois patriotism of the pre- 1914 years,
   with the Kaiser as national father-figure, was no longer relevant.

Nationalism and extremism

   Although nationalism influences many aspects of life in stable
   nation-states, its presence is often invisible, since the nation-state
   is taken for granted. Michael Billig speaks of banal nationalism, the
   everyday, less visible forms of nationalism, which shape the minds of a
   nation's inhabitants on a day-to-day basis. Attention concentrates on
   extreme aspects, and on nationalism in unstable regions. Nationalism
   may be used as a derogatory label for political parties, or they may
   use it themselves as a euphemism for xenophobia, even if their policies
   are no more specifically nationalist, than other political parties in
   the same country. In Europe, some 'nationalist' anti-immigrant parties
   have a large electorate, and are represented in parliament. Smaller but
   highly visible groups, such as far right skinheads, also self-identify
   as 'nationalist', although it may be a euphemism for neo-Nazis or white
   supremacists. Activists in other countries are often referred to as
   ultra-nationalists, with a clearly pejorative meaning. See also
   chauvinism and jingoism.
   Killing of 5,000 Jews in Kaunas by Lithuanian Nazi collaborators in
   June 1941. The German Waffen-SS urged anti-communist partisan leader
   Klimaitis to attack the Jews to show that "the liberated population had
   resorted to the most severe measures against the ... Jewish enemy."
   Enlarge
   Killing of 5,000 Jews in Kaunas by Lithuanian Nazi collaborators in
   June 1941. The German Waffen-SS urged anti-communist partisan leader
   Klimaitis to attack the Jews to show that "the liberated population had
   resorted to the most severe measures against the ... Jewish enemy."

   Nationalism is a component of other political ideologies, and in its
   extreme form, fascism. However, it is not accurate to simply describe
   fascism as a more extreme form of nationalism, although non-extreme
   nationalism can be seen as a lesser form of fascism. Fascism in the
   general sense, and the Italian original, were marked by a strong
   combination of ethnic nationalism and state nationalism, often combined
   with a form of economic and ethical socialism. That was certainly
   evident in Nazism. However, the geopolitical aspirations of Adolf
   Hitler are probably better described as imperialist, and Nazi Germany
   ultimately ruled over vast areas where there was no historic German
   presence. The Nazi state was so different from the typical European
   nation-state, that it was sui generis (requires a category of its own).

Racism

   Nationalism does not necessarily imply a belief in the superiority of
   one nation over others, but in practice some (but not all) nationalists
   do think that way about their own nation. Occasionally they believe
   another nation can serve as an example for their own nation, see
   Anglophilia. There is a specific racial nationalism which can be
   considered an ethnic nationalism, but some form of racism can be found
   within almost all nationalist movements. It is usually directed at
   neighbouring nations and ethnic groups.

   Racism was also a feature of colonialist ideologies, which were
   especially strong at the end of the 19th century. Strictly speaking,
   overseas colonies conflict with the principles of the nation-state,
   since they are not part of the historic homeland of the nation, and
   their inhabitants clearly do not belong to the same ethnic group, speak
   its language, or share its culture. In practice, nationalists sometimes
   combined a belief in self-determination in Europe, with colonisation in
   Africa or Asia.

   Explicit biological race theory was influential from the end of the
   19th century. Nationalist and fascist movements in the first half of
   the 20th century often appealed to these theories. The Nazi ideology
   was probably the most comprehensively racial ideology in history, and
   race influenced all aspects of policy in Nazi Germany.

   Nevertheless racism continues to be an influence on nationalism. Ethnic
   cleansing is often seen as both a nationalist and racist phenomenon. It
   is part of nationalist logic that the state is reserved for one nation,
   but not all nation-states expel their minorities. The best known recent
   examples of ethnic cleansing are those during the Yugoslav secession
   war in the 1990s, although larger numbers may have been displaced in
   the African Great Lakes refugee crisis. Major ethnic cleansing took
   place during and after the Second World War, such as the Generalplan
   Ost and the removal of Germans from the Volga Republic during the
   1950s. The disputed Armenian Genocide in the Ottoman Empire in 1915 is
   also seen as an ethnic cleansing.

Opposition and critique

   Nationalism is an extremely assertive ideology, which makes
   far-reaching demands, including the disappearance of entire states. It
   is not surprising that it has attracted vehement opposition. Much of
   the early opposition to nationalism was related to its geopolitical
   ideal of a separate state for every nation. The classic nationalist
   movements of the 19th century rejected the very existence of the
   multi-ethnic empires in Europe. This resulted in severe repression by
   the (generally autocratic) governments of those empires. That tradition
   of secessionism, repression, and violence continues, although by now a
   large nation typically confronts a smaller nation. Even in that early
   stage, however, there was an ideological critique of nationalism. That
   has developed into several forms of anti-nationalism in the western
   world. The Islamic revival of the 20th century also produced an Islamic
   critique of the nation-state.

   In the liberal political tradition there is widespread criticism of
   ‘nationalism’ as a dangerous force and a cause of conflict and war
   between nation-states. Liberals do not generally dispute the existence
   of the nation-states. The liberal critique also emphasises individual
   freedom as opposed to national identity, which is by definition
   collective (see collectivism).

   The pacifist critique of nationalism also concentrates on the violence
   of nationalist movements, the associated militarism, and on conflicts
   between nations inspired by jingoism or chauvinism. National symbols
   and patriotic assertiveness are in some countries discredited by their
   historical link with past wars, especially in Germany.

   The anti-racist critique of nationalism concentrates on the attitudes
   to other nations, and especially on the doctrine that the nation-state
   exists for one national group, to the exclusion of others. It
   emphasises the chauvinism and xenophobia of many nationalisms.

   Political movements of the left have often been suspicious of
   nationalism, again without necessarily seeking the disappearance of the
   existing nation-states. Marxism has been ambiguous towards the
   nation-state, and in the late 19th century some Marxist theorists
   rejected it completely. For some Marxists the world revolution implied
   a global state (or global absence of state); for others it meant that
   each nation-state had its own revolution. A significant event in this
   context was the failure of the social-democratic and socialist
   movements in Europe to mobilise a cross-border workers' opposition to
   World War I. At present most, but certainly not all, left-wing groups
   accept the nation-state, and see it as the political arena for their
   activities.

   In the Western world the most comprehensive current ideological
   alternative to nationalism is cosmopolitanism. Ethical cosmopolitanism
   rejects one of the basic ethical principles of nationalism: that humans
   owe more duties to a fellow member of the nation, than to a non-member.
   It rejects such important nationalist values as national identity and
   national loyalty. However, there is also a political cosmopolitanism,
   which has a geopolitical programme to match that of nationalism: it
   seeks some form of world state, with a world government. Very few
   people openly and explicitly support the establishment of a global
   state, but political cosmopolitanism has influenced the development of
   international criminal law, and the erosion of the status of national
   sovereignty. In turn, nationalists are deeply suspicious of
   cosmopolitan attitudes, which they equate with treason and betrayal.

   While internationalism in the cosmopolitanist context by definition
   implies cooperation among nations, and therefore the existence of
   nations, proletarian internationalism is different, in that it calls
   for the international working class to follow its brethren in other
   countries irrespective of the activities or pressures of the national
   government of a particular sector of that class. Meanwhile, anarchism
   rejects nation-states on the basis of self-determination of the
   majority social class, and thus reject nationalism. Instead of nations,
   anarchists usually advocate the creation of cooperative societies based
   on free association and mutual aid without regard to ethnicity or race.

Islamism and Nationalism

   Some radical Islamists reject the existence of any state on any basis,
   other than the Islamic caliphate. For them, the unity of Islam means
   that there can be only one government on Earth, in the form usually
   titled caliphate (khilafah). It is not a state in the usual Western
   sense, but all existing states are incompatible with this ideal,
   including the Islamic nation-states with Islam as the official
   religion. Only a minority of Islamists take this view, but insofar as
   Al-Qaeda has an ideology, it includes the goal of the caliphate. The
   Ba'ath Party and related groups have historically offered a secular
   Arab Nationalist opposition to Islamism in Arab countries.

   As a universal religion, Islam is nominally opposed to any
   categorisation of people not based on one's beliefs. Islam promotes a
   strong feeling of community among all Muslims, who collectively
   constitute the Ummah. The word "Ummah" is often incorrectly translated
   into English as "Islamic nation" but it is not a nation in this sense
   and not a synonym of 'caliphate', although the idea is associated with
   the historic caliphates. The confusion may arise because in other cases
   it does translate to the English word "nation", as in the Arabic name
   of the United Nations,الأمم المتحدة, Al Umam al Mutahidah. Shared
   observances such as the holy month of Ramadan and the Hajj (the
   pilgrimage to Mecca), contribute to this common Muslim identification.
   The Nation of Islam in the United States has been criticised by some
   Muslims, who find the comparison between Islam and an earthly nation
   offensive.

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