3. Nationalisms
1. State nationalism - integrationist nationalism
•From state – metropolitan power
•Seeks to homogenize the nation: integration, assimilation
•Seeks fit of physical borders with cultural content
•May conflict with periphery
•May conflict with neighbouring state (irredentism)
2. Colonial nationalism – Separatist nationalism
•Separation from colonial power
•State building
•Elites remain colons
•Domination over indigenous population
•Conflict with metropolitan power
•Conflict with indigenous population
POLITICS OF NATIONALISM
10. EXPLAINING NATIONALISM
4. Nationalisms
3. Separatist nationalism
•Peripheral nationalism
•Anti-colonial nationalism
•What to do with the colons/ creoles
•How to define national identity?
•Language / religion / birth / others…
•May lead to local conflicts
POLITICS OF NATIONALISM
10. EXPLAINING NATIONALISM
5. COMMON FEATURES
NATIONALIST ACTORS:
• Three identifiable in principle:
–Metropolitan power (remote: e.g. imperial
capital in Europe; or adjacent: capital of
local state)
–Regional centre (economically, socially and
politically privileged; “high” culture)
–Regional periphery (economically, socially
and politically marginal; separate culture)
POLITICS OF NATIONALISM
10. EXPLAINING NATIONALISM
6. COMMON FEATURES
NATIONALIST ACTORS:
• Variable significance of three actors:
–Metropolitan power encounters very little
opposition (integrationist nationalism)
–Regional centre the major victor, but two
other actors relevant (colonial nationalism)
–Regional periphery the victor, but two other
actors relevant (separatist nationalism)
POLITICS OF NATIONALISM
10. EXPLAINING NATIONALISM
7. COMMON FEATURES
EXAMPLE: SMALLER EUROPEAN
NATIONS: 19th c. Estonia
Nobility
(German)
alliance
Townsfolk
(German)
Peasants
(Estonian)
conflict
conflict
POLITICS OF NATIONALISM
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Metropole
(Russia)
8. COMMON FEATURES
EXAMPLE: LATIN AMERICA
Spaniards
Creoles
Mestizos
alliance
conflict
conflicts
Indians,
Blacks
POLITICS OF NATIONALISM
10. EXPLAINING NATIONALISM
Metropole
(Spain)
9. COMMON FEATURES
NATIONALIST PROGRAMME:
• Nation as an entity whose distinctiveness is to
be preserved, and whose mission to humanity
is to be promoted
• Nation as a community with a shared past,
perhaps with a common descent and racial
background, and with a homeland of its own
• Political ambition to secure the unity of the
nation in relation to potentially disruptive
forces within its own borders, and to establish
its independence in relation to external rivals.
POLITICS OF NATIONALISM
10. EXPLAINING NATIONALISM
11. BIRTH OF NATIONALISM
THEORIES OF ORIGINS OF NATION (SMITH):
•Primordialism: primeval ties
•Perennialism: long life-span
•Ethno-symbolism: rediscovery of past
myths/symbols
•Modernism: nation a modern phenomenon
•Post-modernism: new form of shifting,
fragmented identity
POLITICS OF NATIONALISM
10. EXPLAINING NATIONALISM
12. BIRTH OF NATIONALISM
“MODERNIST” THEORIES
•Wimmer:
Uniting diverse groups under common umbrella
identity, a ‘cultural compromise’ between separate groups which
foregrounds this level of (national, state-centred) solidarity
•Bauer:
marxist approach (internationalism and the national
question?, urbanisation -> identity change/affirmation)
•Hroch: three stages (A, B, C)
•Gellner: industrial society
•Anderson:
print capitalism’, to create new ‘imagined community’
POLITICS OF NATIONALISM
10. EXPLAINING NATIONALISM
14. GROWTH OF NATIONALISM
ETHNIC v. CIVIC NATIONS?
• Commonly referred to as the “Kohn
dichotomy” after Hans Kohn (1944)
• In fact, nineteenth-century roots
• Has strong normative connotations (not just
German v. French, “eastern” v. “western”,
exclusive v. inclusive, but “bad” v. “good”)
• Better seen as referring to ideal types
POLITICS OF NATIONALISM
10. EXPLAINING NATIONALISM
15. GROWTH OF NATIONALISM
ETHNIC v. CIVIC NATIONS?
• “Ethnic” nation: Herder, Fichte; nation an
entity in which membership is inherited, e.g.
blood, language
• “Civic” nation: Rousseau, Renan; nation an
entity in which membership is voluntary,
“daily plebiscite”
• Can we separate the two that clearly? Could
we have elements of each type in all national
ideologies? Are there regional variations?
POLITICS OF NATIONALISM
10. EXPLAINING NATIONALISM
16. CIVIC VS ETHNIC NATIONALISM
POLITICS OF NATIONALISM
10. EXPLAINING NATIONALISM
17. THE END …
NEXT: THE POLITICS OF NATIONALISM
POLITICS OF NATIONALISM
10. EXPLAINING NATIONALISM
