NATIONALISM

Sociologyindex, Sociology Books 2009, Nation, Nationalism

The concept of nationalism like the concept of nation has two quite distinct meanings. Common to both definitions is the idea that it is the nation which provides people with their primary form of belonging and that these nations should be self-governing. People of the world are thus located within nations, identify with these nation states and political activity is organized around these nation states. Michael Ignatieff distinguishes two forms of nationalism.

First, ‘civic nationalism’, meaning that all citizens within a nation state are treated as equal and share political values. Within this sense of nationalism one would find pluralistic communities acting as one and treating citizens with equality. It is this sense of nationalism which many thought was emerging after narrow religious and ethnic struggles of the 19th and early 20th century.

The second sense of nationalism revolves around the equation of ‘people’ with the nation state. In this formulation the nation or the people exists prior to the state and in a sense creates the state. In these communities then the nation and sense of national identification flows from a common characteristic (usually ethnic heritage) and thus excludes others. This form of nationalism may be less tolerant of difference and can be found in the German nation state where citizenship continues to be defined in terms of ethnicity.

The concern that nation states and thus nationalism are increasingly being organized around ethnic (or other) characteristics are frequently described as the tribalization of the modern world. Tension between the two meanings of nationalism can be found in discussions around Quebec's right to self-determination; is civic nationalism at work or is it ‘people’ nationalism?

National Identity in the Democratic Multi-Cultural State - by John Rex - Centre for Research in Ethnic Relations, University of Warwick - Abstract - It has been suggested that there is a crisis of national identity in the advanced welfare states of Western Europe following post-war immigration.

The aim of this paper is, first of all, to clarify the concept of national identity in its application to these states prior to this immigration, secondly to analyze the concept of ethnic identity amongst immigrant ethnic groups, and, finally, to look at the kinds of institutions which have evolved to determine the relation of immigrant groups to the established national societies of settlement. - socresonline.org.uk/1/2/1.html#top

John Rex (1996) 'Contemporary Nationalism, Its Causes and Consequences for Europe - A Reply to Delanty' - socresonline.org.uk/1/4/rex.html

Treanor, P. (1997) 'Structures of Nationalism' - Abstract - The article reviews briefly the theory of nationalism, and introduces (yet another) definition of nations and nationalism. Starting from this definition of nationalism as a world order with specific characteristics, oppositions such as core and periphery, globalism/nationalism, and realism/idealism are formally rejected.

Nationalism is considered as a purely global structure. Within this, it is suggested, the number of states tends to fall to an equilibrium number which is itself falling, this number of states being the current best approximation to a single world state. Within nationalism variants are associated with different equilibrium numbers: these variants compete. Together, as the nationalist structure, they formally exclude other world orders. Such a structure appears to have the function of blocking change, and it is tentatively suggested that it derives directly from an innate human conservatism.

The article attempts to show how characteristics of classic nationalism, and more recent identity politics, are part of nationalist structures. They involve either the exclusion of other forms of state, or of other orders of states, or the intensification of identity as it exists. - socresonline.org.uk/2/1/8.html 

The Sociology of Nationalism: Tomorrow's Ancestors
by David Mccrone.
CONTENTS
1 The fall and rise of nationalism.
2 Tribe, place and identity: ethnicity and nationalism.
3 Inventing the past: history and nationalism.
4 ‘Devils at his back’: nationalism and Ernest Gellner.
5 Nation as state: nationalism and state-building.
6 Dialectic with the other: liberation nationalism in the twentieth century.
7 In and out of the state: the rise and rise of neo-nationalism.
8 The unforeseen revolution: post-communist nationalism.
9 Nationalism and its futures.

Encountering Nationalism (21st Century Sociology) Review

"Puri is particularly good at demonstrating the extent to which nationalisms are gendered ... The book is an interpretative essay that seeks to realign debate on its subject. In this it is challenging and interesting." Ethnic and Racial Studies

"The book explicitly discusses the wide array of debates centered around the theme of nationalism and therefore acts as a work that provides a seminal undersatnding of the issue of nationalism." International Journal of Contemporary Sociology

"This is a wonderful entry point for students and faculty trying to get a grip on the often slippery but politically fraught idea, and practice, of nationalism. Puri puts earlier discussions of nationalism into a post-September 11 focus. Moreover, she brings the ongoing debates about the nature and uses of nationalism up to date by showing how central to nationalism are presumptions about women, and sexuality." – Cynthia Enloe, Clark University

"This is a thoughtful introduction to the field of nationalism. It successfully analyzes the gendered and sexual dimensions of nationalist projects, and contextualizes them within global, economic, and political relations of power during the colonial period and the present day." – Nira Yuval-Davis, University of East London

"Puri is particularly good at demonstrating the extent to which nationalisms are gendered ... The book is an interpretative essay that seeks to realign debate on its subject. In this it is challenging and interesting." Ethnic and Racial Studies "The book explicitly discusses the wide array of debates centered around the theme of nationalism and therefore acts as a work that provides a seminal undersatnding of the issue of nationalism." International Journal of Contemporary Sociology "This is a wonderful entry point for students and faculty trying to get a grip on the often slippery but politically fraught idea, and practice, of nationalism. Puri puts earlier discussions of nationalism into a post-September 11 focus. Moreover, she brings the ongoing debates about the nature and uses of nationalism up to date by showing how central to nationalism are presumptions about women, and sexuality." - Cynthia Enloe, Clark University "This is a thoughtful introduction to the field of nationalism. It successfully analyzes the gendered and sexual dimensions of nationalist projects, and contextualizes them within global, economic, and political relations of power during the colonial period and the present day." - Nira Yuval-Davis, University of East London

Product Description

Encountering Nationalism introduces students to concepts of nationalism in an accessible, critical, and timely way. Abstract arguments are bolstered by clear and specific examples drawn from momentous events and from the well of everyday life, such as the aftermath of September 11, beauty pageants, ethnic conflicts, and sexual respectability. Encountering Nationalism is an engaging introduction to the diverse meanings of nationalism and its most important aspects.

Addresses the rise of nationalism in the US post-September 11.
Brings together “culturalist” and state-centered approaches to nationalism.
Underscores the importance of race, gender, sexuality, ethnicity, and religion to understanding nationalism.
Clarifies key concepts such as nationalism, nation, state, gender, sexuality, etc.
Contains useful examples to illustrate key aspects of nationalism.
Features clear and engaging prose.

The Dangers of Abstract Nationalism
by William S. Lind
antiwar.com
"I would suggest that, instead of fascism, the danger now facing America is one of the many ills released from that Pandora's box, the French Revolution: abstract nationalism. As Burke pointed out, conservative patriotism is very different from the abstract nationalism of la Patrie. It is a concrete attachment to our own places: our own valleys or towns, our farms, hills, or plains.
Abstract nationalism, what Martin van Creveld calls the "state as an ideal" in his book The Rise and Decline of the State, has spread widely in America. As conservatives, we need to do a better job of explaining to our fellow citizens why that kind of nationalism is radical, not conservative. But van Creveld's book also points to the likely fate of such a nationalism: it will crumble after it fails in war."

Nationalism, Ethnic Conflict, and Rationality
Ashutosh Varshney, Associate professor of political science at the University of Michigan (varshney@umich.edu).
doi:10.1017/S1537592703000069
Abstract
Why do we have so many ethnic partisans in the world ready to die as suicide bombers? Does a rational calculus lie beneath the nationalist pride and passions? Can it be discovered if only we apply our understanding of rationality more creatively? This article seeks to answer these questions by focusing on the nationalism of resistance. It argues that a focus on dignity, self-respect, and recognition, rather than a straightforward notion of self-interest, is a better prism for understanding ethnic and nationalist behavior, although self-interest is not entirely absent as a motivation in ethnic conflict. In the process of developing this argument, a distinction once made by Max Weber—between instrumental rationality and value rationality—is recovered and refined further. No more arresting emblems of the modern culture of nationalism exist than cenotaphs and tombs of Unknown Soldiers…. They are either deliberately empty or no one knows who lies inside them…. The cultural significance of such monuments becomes even clearer if one tries to imagine, say, a Tomb of the Unknown Marxist or a cenotaph for fallen Liberals. Is a sense of absurdity avoidable? The reason is that neither Marxism nor Liberalism is much concerned with death and immortality. If the nationalist imagining is so concerned, this suggests a strong affinity with religious imaginings…. —Benedict Anderson, Imagined Communities, 1983

Partisans and Nationalists
Rethinking Cleavage Formation and Political Nationalism in Interwar Flanders and Scotland
Patrick Hossay, Social Science History 2003 27(2):165-196; DOI:10.1215/01455532-27-2-165
Abstract
The author provides a critical response to the social scientific literature that cast political interest and cleavages as the projection of sociocultural dynamics onto the political scene. Sociopolitical cleavages in general, and nationalism in particular, are thus viewed as having taken form outside the partisan arena, and only subsequent to their societal formation do they take on political importance. Through a comparison of the development of political nationalism in interwar Scotland and Flanders, the author argues for the importance of political forces in defining and shaping the political and social meaning and significance of nationalism. In Scotland, despite the potential popular appeal of nationalism, it does not emerge as a significant and autonomous political cleavage, principally due to configurations of partisan programs and alliances, and a politically unfavorable "demographic geometry." In Flanders, on the other hand, markedly different political conditions fostered the development and societal significance of nationalism. Hence, political nationalism did not emerge as a necessary concomitant to societal and cultural change; it was in part the result of political conditions and institutions that could foster or constrain the sociopolitical significance and meaning of nationalism.

Social Theory’s Methodological Nationalism
Myth and Reality
Daniel Chernilo
University Alberto Hurtado, Santiago, Chile, dchernil@uahurtado.cl
European Journal of Social Theory, Vol. 9, No. 1, 5-22 (2006), DOI: 10.1177/1368431006060460
The equation between the concept of society and the nation-state in modernity is known as methodological nationalism in scholarly debates. In agreement with the thesis that methodological nationalism must be rejected and transcended, this article argues that we still lack an understanding of what methodological nationalism actually is and, because of that, we remain unable to answer the substantive problem methodological nationalism poses to social theory: how to understand the history, main features and legacy of the nation-state in modernity. The first section of the article reconstructs the origins of the critique of methodological nationalism in the 1970s and differentiates between its logical and historical versions. It then critically reviews the most salient critique of methodological nationalism in contemporary social theory, that of Ulrich Beck. The final part of the article assesses the thesis of social theory’s immanent methodological nationalism by demonstrating how social theory’s equivocations towards the nation-state only mirror the nation-state’s own ambivalence within modernity. It is shown that social theory’s ambivalent attempts at conceptualizing the nation-state reflect the actual ambivalence of the position of the nation-state in modernity: its historical opacity, its sociological uncertainty and its normative ambiguity.

Nationalism Across Borders: Transnational Nationalist Advocacy in the European Union
Devashree Guptaa
Carleton College, One North College Street, Northfield, MN 55057, USA. E-mail: dgupta@carleton.edu
Comparative European Politics (2008) 6, 61–80. doi:10.1057/palgrave.cep.6110127
Abstract
Research on transnational protest activity in Europe typically focuses on cases in which the European Union (EU) is the source and target of social movements that take issues with either specific policies at the European level or the project of integration itself. This paper expands this narrow view of transnational contention in Europe by examining how the EU can redefine and affect the relationship between movements and states by interacting with transnational movements in varied ways ranging from patron to adversary. Taking transnational nationalist movements as my central example, I argue that the EU regularly interposes itself in the contentious relationship between movements and states through five key mechanisms: brokerage, certification, de-certification, resource transfer, and displacement. These mechanisms vary in terms of their intentionality. In some cases, the EU, through its institutions and officials, makes deliberate choices that alter the ability of movements to form alliances and to pursue their goals. In other cases, the EU emerges as a more inadvertent participant, although even in such circumstances, it can have a lasting effect on a movement's ability to operate. I find that through these five mechanisms, the EU can alter the terms on which movements and states meet, although the result is not always positive for transnational movements seeking aid and allies against more powerful state actors. Ultimately, the EU's impact on the balance of power can have both positive and negative consequences for movements that choose to take advantage of the expanded political space of the EU by organizing transnationally.

Clarence Thomas's Black Nationalism
Mark Tushnet
Harvard University - Harvard Law School
Abstract:
This Essay examines Clarence Thomas's opinions in education cases, extracting from them themes of black nationalism and strict individualism. These themes are in some tension with each other. I use a similar tension exhibited in two controversies over editorials W.E.B. Du Bois wrote for the NAACP magazine The Crisis as a way of exploring whether the tension can be reconciled. I argue that much of the tension can be resolved by treating black nationalism either as a choice made by African Americans as individuals or as a second-best strategy for strengthening the black community when its members lack effective choice in education. Some tension in Justice Thomas's opinions remains, however, and I suggest that the residual tension derives from Justice Thomas's personal experience in being regarded by dominant legal elites as unqualified for the position he holds.

Australian Nationalism and Working-Class Britishness: The Case of Rugby League Football
By Tony Collins, De Montfort University, United Kingdom (April 2005)
Abstract
Sport has traditionally been seen as a vehicle for the expression of Australian nationalism. Following W. F. Mandle's work on cricket and nationalism, sporting contests between Australia and England have been portrayed as asserting Australian feelings of independence and hostility to Britain.

Nationalism at the centre and periphery of Capitalism.
BRESSER-PEREIRA, Luiz Carlos.
Estud. av. [online]. 2008, v. 22, n. 62, pp. 171-193. ISSN 0103-4014.
Abstract
In this work I show that nationalism, together with liberalism, socialism, efficientism and the environmentalism, is one of the ideologies of the modern societies. In the first section, I define nation as the form of society politically organized that is born with the Capitalist Revolution and leads to the formation of the nation-state, and nationalism as the corresponding ideology: its objective is the autonomy and the national economic development. In the second section, I distinguish the nationalism of the central countries from that one of the peripheral countries; while in the first the nationalism is implicit, in the peripherals is explicit or then turn to the cosmopolitism. In the third section I argument that the imperialism, even being inevitable between strong and week countries, will change its characteristics when this relation of forces is modified as a consequence of the nationalism of the dominated ones. Still in this section, I make one brief reference to Brazil. Finally, I come back to the ideologies of the capitalism to show that, differently from the others, the nationalism is a particularist ideology, which increases the resistance to it and facilitates the task of domination of the central countries. Yet, the nationalism does not disappear because it is an organizer principle of the capitalist society.

Frisian nationalism: a response to cultural and political hegemony
J Penrose
Abstract. The author explores the complexity of the concept of nationalism by presenting the very different, but intimately connected, experiences of Dutch and Frisian nationalism in the Netherlands. In the introduction she outlines nationalism's relation to the concepts of patriarchy and racism, by highlighting their shared tendency to express dominance - subservience relations. At the same time, the concept of hegemony is introduced as the process which seeks to institutionalize unequal power relations based on characteristics of gender, 'race', and culture. In the body of the paper she then examines the way in which Frisian nationalism has responded to the cultural and political hegemony born of Dutch nationalism. Specifically, the author demonstrates how Dutch nationalism sought to establish Dutch hegemony; outlines the way in which Frisian nationalism -- particularly its most recent phase of political activitism -- has responded to Dutch hegemony; and evaluates the effectiveness of this Frisian response. The conclusions draw on the Frisian experience to show how hegemony can be challenged in ways which promote increased equality in the power relations of gender, 'race', and culture.

Economic nationalism: from Friedrich List to Robert Reich
DAVID LEVI-FAUR
Walter A. Haas School of Business, University of California, Berkeley, USA.
Review of International Studies (1997), 23:3:359-370 Cambridge University Press
Abstract
Three principal schools of political economy — economic liberalism, economic socialism and economic nationalism — are offered to students of international political economy by the professional literature. Since the end of World War II and in the context of the rivalry between the ‘liberal West’ and the ‘Socialist East’, economic nationalism has been a neglected field of study. 2 Economic liberalism and economic socialism have vied for scholarly attention, resulting in greater theoretical and analytical sophistication. During the interwar period the situation was different: economic nationalism was well represented in widely read textbooks on international relations and enjoyed attention from both its proponents and its opponents. 3 Now, with the collapse of the Communist regimes, the consequent change in world politics, the current economic problems in North America and in Europe and, last but not least, the lessons derived from the miraculous economic success of the mercantilist states of East Asia, 4 the time seems to have come to re-examine our perceptions of the discourse of political economy, and redirect scholarly attention toward the theory of economic nationalism.

Nationalism and globalization : a Central European perspective
Abstract
Milan Bufon
Ph.D., Lecturer, University of Ljubljana
ZRS - Science and Research Centre of the Republic of Slovenia
The paper will deal with different relations and aspects of nationalism and globalization in a particular part of the European continent - Central Europe. Although there are no wider accepted definitions of what “Central Europe” actually is, in geographical terms, we can nevertheless say that there is no doubt about its particular position regarding the very phenomena of nationalism and globalization.
Here, the persistence of a mosaic of regional, ethnic and national identities, which have produced a cultural based nationalism and, even recently, a fragmentation of multi-national political and territorial formations, contrasts sharply with the classical western-European state-based nationalism, which has been traditionally characterized by a severe internal cultural standardization. At this regard the process of social, economic and political integration, which takes place not only within the EU, but, in perspective, between Western and Central Europe too, and their different historical experiences concerning nationalism, opens up new problems : the different scales of regionalism movements and demands, which are oriented on a sub-state level in western European, and on a super-state level in Central European countries, and, more generally, the problem of how to combine different territorial identities in a single functional space.
From this point of view, the Central European experience in terms of ethnic fragmentation and inter-ethnic relations between cultural coexistence and national conflicts, could give a response, which may be useful to understand how the current transformations concerning globalization and deterritorialization effect the persistent maintenance of regional, ethnic and national identities, and the corresponding cultural spaces.
One of the key questions in future European political-geographical developments is thus to find a new way between convergence and divergence tendencies in the social, cultural, economic and political sphere, the other, to work out if the European programme, which could be summarized in terms of “unity in diversity”, is not only practicable, but also exportable on a world-wide scale. Otherwise, nationalism, as a pre-eminent European phenomenon, will have to face and be absorbed by a new global “melting pot” future development.

China's new nationalism and cross-strait relations
Yongnian Zheng, China Policy Institute, The University of Nottingham, China House, University Park, Nottingham NG7 2RD, UK
Lye Liang Fook, East Asian Institute, National University of Singapore, AS 5, Level 4, 7 Arts Link, Singapore 117571
Email: yongnian.zheng@nottingham.ac.uk and eailyelf@nus.edu.sg
International Relations of the Asia Pacific Vol. 7 No. 1 © Oxford University Press and the Japan Association of International Relations 2006.
The new wave of nationalistic fervor in China is believed to have further complicated cross-strait relations. Ordinary Chinese are not willing to see Taiwan moving towards independence. Yet such a nationalistic belief that the mainland has a rightful claim over Taiwan does not seem to accord with the feelings of a rising number of Taiwanese who tend to regard their separateness from the mainland as a unique feature that deserves safeguarding. While the potential for conflict is there, the situation is not all gloomy. The Beijing leadership has so far been able to keep the new nationalism in check by adopting a calibrated response to perceived independence moves by Taiwan. While more conciliatory in its gestures towards Taiwan, China can be firm if the need arises. Also, the United States appears to be tilting in favor of China in terms of maintaining cross-strait stability. Depending on the situation, the Chinese leadership retains the political initiative to break the deadlock at some point in the future.

Ethnic Nationalism: Politics, Ideology, and the World Order
Author: Nagel, Joane
Abstract:
Source: International Journal of Comparative Sociology, Volume 34, Numbers 1-2, 1993 , pp. 103-112(10)
Researchers have catalogued widespread, often persistent ethnic conflict and ethnic nationalist movements occurring around the world in widely diverse settings. Such constancy in the face of diversity suggests that ethnic mobilization might better be understood by focusing outside national borders, asking: What is it about the modern world system that promotes ethnic nationalist movements? Two international factors contribute to ethnic conflict and ethnic movements : ideology and competition. Ethnic movements find their legitimacy in the ideology of the global order; an ideology that embraces such conflicting principles as, self-determination, sovereignty, terrritorial integrity, representative government, and home rule. Ethnic movements find their material support in the marketplace of international competition; major and regional powers support dissident ethnic groups as they compete for economic and geopolitical advantage in the global arena. During the Cold War many ethnic movements, particularly in the Third World, were supported (some would argue, created) by East-West competition. The global realignment following the disintegration of the Soviet Union has reduced ethnic tensions in some cases (e.g., Angola) and increased ethnic conflict in other cases (e.g., Iraq). This realignment appears to be precipitating a new era of state making that is likely to set into motion a nationalist-subnationalist dialectic in which ethnic minoirities, enclosed in newly formed states, challenge new regimes for autonomy or independence, creating further Balkanization.

Nationalism and Bounded Integration:
What it Would Take to Construct a European Demos
LARS-ERIK CEDERMAN
Harvard University, USA
European Journal of International Relations, Vol. 7, No. 2, 139-174 (2001), DOI: 10.1177/1354066101007002001
This article uncovers some crucial key assumptions of polity-formation underpinning the debate about the European Union's democratic legitimacy. It uses theories of nationalism to understand why a demos is unlikely to develop easily at the European level. Based on a two-by-two categorization of the logic and scope of identity-formation, I conclude that the most promising approach to European demos-formation conceives of identities as both constructed and `sticky'. Labeling this theoretical position `bounded integration', I suggest that it provides a more realistic foundation for developing democracy-enhancing reform proposals than does post-nationalist theorizing, especially due to the former's explicit attention to identity-conferring mechanisms such as education, language and media.

Nationalism and Globalisation
Mary Kaldor
Department of Government, London School of Economics, Houghton Street, London WC2A 2AE
Copyright ©ASEN 2004
Abstract
This article argues that the current wave of nationalism has to be understood as a response to globalisation and not as evidence for the enduring nature of the national idea, as Smith suggests. It defends the modernist paradigm as a way of explaining nationalism and emphasises the role of war in the construction of nationalism. It puts forward an explanation for the current wave of nationalism in terms of changes in the division of labour, in communications and in war and it describes the key characteristics of what the author calls the 'new nationalism'. The final section defends the idea of a cosmopolitan or European identity.

Implicit American Nationalism: Effects of the American Flag on Desire for Power and Materialism
Ferguson, Melissa. and Carter, Travis J.
Abstract:
Nationalistic ideologies consist of beliefs, attitudes, goals, and behaviors that prescribe certain economic, political, or social systems and values for a particular nation. Although people undoubtedly consciously and intentionally consult their nationalistic ideologies when acting in the political realm, these kinds of ideologies might also be activated implicitly by the mere perception of nationalist symbols and icons. For example, the perception of symbols of the United States might activate values or policy stances that are associated in memory as part of one's nationalist ideology. In this talk we describe recent findings with participants from the United States indicating that implicit exposure to the United States flag activates a desire for power and materialism. Moreover, these findings were moderated by participantsâ?? exposure to the United States news media. For those with high exposure to the news media, those who were primed with the flag expressed greater desire for power and materialistic goods compared with those who were not primed. These effects were absent for those with low exposure to the news media. We believe that the content of U.S. political news might help to shape one's implicit nationalist ideology through the repeated pairing of nationalistic content and images. The results contribute to a growing body of evidence that ideological knowledge can operate implicitly to influence peopleâ??s attitudes, judgments, and behavior.

Nationalism and the May Thirtieth Movement: an analysis of the northern intelligentsia
Guangxu Ao, The Department of History, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou
DOI: 10.1080/17535650701677338
Abstract
Trilateral interactions existed between nationalism, the May Thirtieth Movement and the northern intelligentsia. Nationalism was an intellectual trend mainly popular among intellectuals, especially the northern intelligentsia. On the one hand, this trend of thought drove the Movement throughout the country; on the other hand, it exacerbated differentiation and stratification among the intelligentsia, which, to some extent, restrained the Movement. Gradually, it had become the spiritual core around which the right-wing intelligentsia gathered, forming the rudiment of the “Third Force”. At the same time, the May Thirtieth Movement provided ideal conditions for nationalism to reach its climax.