Nations Dissolving? Populism, Nationalism, and Emotional Disintegration (original) (raw)

We live in an age of increasing nationalism. From Brexit's "Take back control" to Trump's "Make America great again," and from Modi's "Make in India" initiative to Erdogan's "Strong Turkey," leaders who play the "nationalism card" are building popular support. Various polls show more people on the far right of the political spectrum, yet in the midst of such intensified nationalist fervor, nations stand as internally divided as ever. How is this possible? How is it that nations can be so divided if nationalism is on the rise? How are we to interpret intensifying national divisions in the face of intensifying nationalism? In order to explain this paradoxical situation, we argue that many of today's nations are experiencing what we call "emotional disintegration," which is brought about by two interrelated and overlapping mechanisms: social and political polarization. While states are staying intact and nationalism as an ideology is getting stronger, nations, as living entities, are getting more polarized and split. This process eventually leads to the dissolution of nations even if they are territorially intact. Turkey presents a stark example.