Political Studies 465 Flashcards
Smith 5 usages of Nationalism
- A Process of formation, or growth, of nations
- A sentiment or consciousness of belonging to the nation
- A language and symbolism of the nation
- A social and political movement on behalf of the nation
- A doctrine and/or ideology of the nation, both general and particular
Miroslav Hroch
Steps of nationalism:
1. Art, history, narratives created by intelligentsia, then adopted by bourgeoisie, then adopted by the masses
- the OG art and history will always continue to be a part of their nationalism
Importance of Symbolism
Symbols are directed by nationalist ideology, and they can reinforce national status
3 Common Goals of Nationalism (Smith)
Autonomy, unity, identity
Definition of Nationalism (Smith)
An ideological movement for attaining and maintaining autonomy, unity, and identity for a population which some of its members deem to constitute and actual or potential nation.
Rogers Brubaker
There are nationalisms without nations.
Nation as a category of practice, nationhood as an institutionalised cultural and political form, and nationness as a contingent event or happening.
Everyday nationalist.
Nations in themselves are political claims to loyalty and solidarity.
Objective vs Subjective Notions of Nation
Objective: Territory, language, economic life
Subjective: it is an imagined political community - and imagined as both inherently limited and sovereign
Benedict Anderson
The imagined community (limited and sovereign).
Theorized anti-colonial nationalism. They are less likely to give sovereignty away because of it.
What is the nation not? (Smith)
Not the state (which shows institutional activity), not an ethnie (those are apolitical, often don’t have territory, are looser, desire for self-determination, and have a standardized history.
Definition of Nationalism (David Miller)
- Community constituted by shared belief and mutual commitment 2. Extended in history 3. Active in character 4. Connected to territory 5. Marked off from other community by its distinct public culture
Patriotism vs Nationalism (Connor)
Patriotism (loyalty to the state), nationalism (kinship sentiment).
Smith says they are sometimes one of the same (UK example).
Nation-state… national state
Nation-states don’t really exist according to Smith cause homogenous countries don’t exist. However, national states (ones that want to increase integration and usually have a dominant ethnie are more common)
Sinisa Malesivic
It is interests, not identities that spur action
Definition of National Identity (Smith)
The continuous reproduction and reinterpretation by the members of a national community of the pattern of symbols, values, myths, memories and traditions that compose the distinctive heritage of nations, and the variable identification of individual members of that community with that heritage and its cultural elements.
To Remember about National Identity
Collective and individual levels of understandings, and they are always continuing and changing
Six basic propositions of Nationalism (Smith)
- World has nations with character, history, destiny
- Nation only source of power
- National loyalty overrides everything else
- To be free, individuals must have nations
- Every nation requires full autonomy
- Global peace requires group of autonomous nations
Nationalism as Ideology
Elie Kedourie - Nationalism is not an ideology. It is destructive and naive.
Michael Freeden - technically an ideology but very thin, it needs other ideologies to latch onto.
Possible Rebuttal to Nationalism not being Ideology
- It is conceptually richer than Kedourie and Freeden claim
2. It is a form of culture or religion more than ideology.
Fundamental Ideas
Autonomy, unity, identity
Cognant Concepts (6)
- Authenticity 2. Continuity 3. Dignity 4. Destiny 5. Love (Attachment) 6. Homeland
Voluntarism vs Organicism
They vary on the view of citizenship. Organicism often has an ethnic component, you are a part of a nation if you were born in it and share genealogy. Voluntarism still presumes a world of nations, but choosing your loyalty can be more flexible.
Ethnic vs Civic Nationalism
Ethnic nationalism based on primordialist belief of shared blood. Civic based on all of those within a territory (inclusive). Smith says there consequences are often the same, as they have the same tenets.
Walker Connor
Patriotism vs Nationalism
Anti-positivism. Nation cannot be explained rationally explained. It is created through emotional psychology and a felt history.
Definition of nationalism: largest group with believed kinship.
Ethnies are pre-national people.
Michael Mann
Four Stages of Nation (Religious, quasi-capitalist (hierarchical), militaristic, industrial capitalist).
Ethnosymbolism
An anthropological approach, study symbol, collective destinies as a means of understanding how they collectively organize.
Modernism
Nationalism was created in the modern era as a response to industrial capitalism. It furthers the interests of the ruling class.
5 Branches of Modernism
- Socioeconomic (Nationalism is created by rational actors who are trying to maximize material gains through cost-benefit calculations. Hechter, Nairn)
- Sociocultural (Nationalism is created through public education systems, mass literacy. Ernest Gellner)
- Political (Nationalism only used to mobilize masses and is not cultural. Anthony Giddens. Example: 13 colonies)
- Ideological (Nationalism is an ideology created by masses as a reaction to aristocratic control. Elie Kedourie)
- Constructivists (Nationalism and nations are socially constructed, are not natural. They are imagined communities. Anderson, Hobsbawn)
Post-Modernism
Very critical of positivism and objective truth. They are critical of hierarchical structures. Very deconstructionist. First to use critical theories. Language is not a mirror to nature.
Smith’s response to Modernism
Nations may be modern, but they are based on preexisting myths, values, etc.
Lateral Development vs Vertical Development (Smith)
Lateral (top-down), the elites bring in the masses.
Vertical (bottom-up) the masses rise up against elites.