A critique of nationalism (original) (raw)
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The concept of nationalism in discussions on a European society
Journal of Political Ideologies
In scholarship, nationalism has been found to be an integral ingredient of any sense of nationhood. In everyday public use, nationalism is used as a term of disapproval. The stubborn discursive border between the two uses of the concept of nationalism evokes questions about the historical preconditions of creating an ism concept based on the roots 'nation' or 'national'. In the period often called 'the age of nationalism', from the French Revolution to the First World War, nationhood was essentialized in ways that did not allow nations to be explained as constructions of any ism. 'Nationalism' gained popularity from the 1890s onwards as a critical concept directed at ideas and actions that broke against what was seen as the legitimate role of a nation. Defining the role of nations and nationhood took place in a series of political contests utilizing the concept of nationalism. Debates on Europe and 'European society' created one of the contexts of these contests. In current scholarly discussion on the idea of a European society, the critique of 'methodological nationalism' has been targeted at the nation-state-bound notion of society. However, in much of policyoriented research and policy planning, the references to nationalism only contain views and actions found to be reactions against globalization and European integration. 'Nationalism' does not apply to efforts to improve 'our' national and European competitiveness nor 'our' joint EU policies of external bordering.
alter the arrangement.) (1) This Westphalian Peace, as is widely believed, heralded the system of nation-states in Europe. However, this peace should be understood in the sense of Orwellian doublespeak. The Westphalian system ushered in a new series of national wars for hegemony in Europe and in colonies -and through a number of local wars, Napoleonic campaign, Franco-Prussian war , this process went on upto the two world wars in the twentieth century, and even beyond that up to the present time.
The picture of contemporary nationalism – the case of Central and Eastern Europe
2005
In contemporary Europe, there can be noted the overlapping and rivalry of the two signifi cant tendencies, which are becoming stronger and stronger. On one hand, one can notice multilevel processes of integration and conditions connected with them and that are concerned with democracy, tolerance, globalization, etc. On the other hand, one can observe disintegrative factors of various kind, which refer to actions and postures connected with chauvinism, xenophobia, neofascism and separatism. In the second view, especially in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), various aspects connected with nationalism seem to be of great signifi cance. ! is is clearly refl ected by the events which took place in, for example, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo or Macedonia. THE PICTURE OF CONTEMPORARY
This seminar provides an overview over various theories of nationalism and seeks to test their applicability through case studies since the early nineteenth century from Europe, Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Its aim is therefore to gauge the potential and the limits of what so far has been a distinctly Eurocentric brand of theorizing. A first part of the seminar familiarizes students with the most common theoretical approaches to the study of nationalism from an interdisciplinary perspective, framed around the well-known debate between modernists such as Ernest Gellner and primordialists such as Anthony Smith. A second part deals with a series of case studies, which aim at allowing for teasing out intercontinental comparisons as well as ideological transfers in the history of the spread of nationalism since 1800. The ultimate aim is to provide students with a firmer grasp of how manifold forms of nationalism have profoundly shaped our contemporary world.
Conclusion: Speculations on the Future of Nationalisms
2008
By way of concluding this book, I want to recapitulate the multiple accounts of nationalism that crisscross through the preceding chapters. At one level, the chapters describe nationalism, its rise, its different manifestations, and its important facets. Clearly, as the chapters reflect, there are disagreements about what various scholars have to say about nationalism and its patterns. At another level, then, are the questions of how to approach nationalism and what broader themes are encoded within its idiom, such as race, gender, sexuality, and ethnicity. A culturalist approach to nationalism is shaped by, but also critical of, what are loosely described as modernist theories of nationalism. Partly shaped by Anderson and Hobsbawm's insights, the culturalist approach sees nationalisms as modern phenomena that are conceived, but are not unreal. I also want to emphasize that this is not to simply acknowledge that nationalisms are culturally constructed but to push the argument further: that nationalisms need to be continually imagined, reproduced, and reiterated in order for them to appear normal and natural. Therefore, a second point is that both the banal as well as the spectacular moments of nationalisms can provide important insights. The persisting influence of nations and nationalisms is not merely a factor in moments of crisis or spectacles such as independence-day celebrations in former colonies and the USA, for that matter. If anything, nations and nationalisms are woven through the fabric of everyday life. Third, a culturalist approach departs from modernist theories in two related ways: it argues against a single theory of nationalism and its origins; and it challenges Euro-Americancentered perspectives on nationalism that either disregard non-western
Nationalism and its discontents
Democratization, 1996
The New Conservatism: Cultural Criticism and the Historians’ Debate by Jürgen Habermas; edited and translated by Shierry Weber Nicholsen; introduced by Richard Wolin. Cambridge, MA: Massachusetts Institute of Technology Press, 1989; Cambridge, UK: Polity Press, .1994, Pp.270. £39.50 (hardback); £13.50 (paperback). ISBN 0 7456 067 92 and 1411 6