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NATONALISM. The word ‘nation’ has been used since 13’th century and derives from the Latin nasci meaning to be born. Only in the late 18’th century the term nation acquired political overtones, as individuals and groups started to be classified as ‘nationalist’.
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NATONALISM The word ‘nation’ has been used since 13’th century and derives from the Latin nascimeaning to be born. Only in the late 18’th century the term nation acquired political overtones, as individuals and groups started to be classified as ‘nationalist’. The idea of nationalism was born during the French Revolution.
The revolutionaries in France rose up in the name of the people, amd understood the people to be the ‘French nation’. • Their ideas largely influenced by J. J. Rousseau. • At that time nationalism was a revolutionary and democratic creed, reflecting the idea that ‘subjects of the crown’ should become ‘citizens of France’. • Between 1792- 1815 much of continental Europe was invaded by France and gave rise to desire for independence.
Nationalist ideas also spread to Latin America in the early 19’th century. Simon Bolivar (1783- 1830) led Revolutionaries against Spanish rule in what was then New Granada, now the countries of Colombia, Venezuela, and Equator, as well as in Peru and Bolivia. • Nationalist tides redraw the map of Europe in 19’th century, as the empires of Ottoman, Austria, and Russia started to crumble.
The 19’th. century was a period of nation- building. • At that time enthusiasm for nationalism was largely restricted to the rising middle classes, who were attracted to the ideas of national unity and constitutional government. • Bytheend of 19’th. centurynationalism had become popular movementwiththe spread of flags, nationalanthems, patrioticpoetryandliterature, publicceremoniesandnationalholidays.
Nationalism –becamethelanguage of masspoliticsbythegrowth of primaryeducation, massliteracyandthye spread of popular newspapers. • Nationalism had previouslybeenassociatedwith liberal andprogressivemovements, but wasincreasinglytakenupbyconservativeandreactionarypoliticians. • Nationalismcametostandforsocialcohesion, orderandstabilityespecially in theface of growingchallenge of socialism.
Nationalism sought to integrate the increasingly powerful working class into the nation and so preserve the established social structure. • Each nation claimed its own unique or superior qualities while other nations were regarded as alien, untrustworthy, even menacing.
Nationalism was a powerful factor leading to war both in 1914 and 1939. • During the 20’th century the doctrine of nationalism spread out from Europe throughout the globe as the peoples of Asia and Africa rose in opposition to colonial rule. • Nationalist uprisings took place in Egypt in 1919 and spread throughout the Middle East. The Anglo- Afghan war also broke out in 1919 and rebellion took place in India, the Dutch East Indies and Indochine.
After 1945 the map of Africa and Asia was redrawn as the British, French, Dutch and Portuguese empires disintegrated • Since the 1960’s apparently stable nation- states have been increasingly disrupted by nationalist tensions (For ex. in the UK, Welsh, Scottish and rivel Irish nationalist tentions).In addition, seperatist movements Quebec in Canada, Baques in Northern Spain, Kurds in Turkey and Iraq, Tamils in Sri Lanka and the Muslims of Kashmir in India.
Central Themes The Nation • The basic belief of nationalism is that the nation is or should be the central principle of political organization. • Nations are formed through a combination of objective and subjective factors has given rise to rival concept of the nation. • While all nationalists agree that nations are a blend of cultural and psyhco-political factors, they diasgree about where the balance between the two lies.
The Nation.. • By viewing national identity as ‘given’, unchanging and unchangeable, this implies that nations are characterized by common descent and so tends to blur the distinction between the nation and the race. • Nations are held together by a ‘primordial bond’ a powerful and innate emotional attachment to a language, religion, traditional way of life or a homeland.
The Nation.. • ‘Inclusive’ concepts of the nation higlight the importance of civic consciousness and patriyotic loyalty, suggesting that nations may be multiracial, multi- ethnic, multi- religious and so forth.
Organic Community • United belief among nationalists: humankind is naturally divided into a collecction of nations, each possesing a distinctive character and seperate identity. • Primordialist approach to nationalism portray national identity as historically embedded: nations are rooted in a common cultural heritage and language that may long predate statehood or the quest for independece and are characterized deep emotional attachments that resemble kinship ties.
Organic Community • Anthony Smith highlighted the continuity between modern nations and pre-modern ethnic communities, which he called ‘ethnies’. • ‘Situationalist’ approach to nationalism suggests that nation identity is forged in response to changing situations and historical challenges. Gellner, emphasized the degree to which that nationalism is linked to modernization and in particular to the process of industrilization.
Nations are cultural entities collections of people bound together by shared values and traditions: common labguage, religion and history and ocuppying same geographical area. • Objective criteria issue: there is no blueprint nor any objective criteria that can establish where and when a nation exists.
Benedict Anderson; pointed out, nations constitute only ‘imagined communities’ Andersen argued that nations exist more as mental images than as genuine communities that require a degree of face to face interaction to sustain the notion of a common identity. • If nation exist, they exist as imagined artices, constructed for us through interaction to sustain the notion of common identity.
Constructivist approaches to nationalism regard national identity as very largely and ideological construct, usually serving the interests of powerful groups. • Hobsbawm argued that a belief in historical continuity and cultural purity is invariably a myth and, myth created by nationalism itself. In this view, nationalism creates nations, not the other way around.
