Nationalism

Nationalism:

• Identification with one's own nation (national consciousness).
• Emphasis on promoting the culture and interests of one's nation over those of other nations.

Historical Emergence:

• Nationalism emerged in the 18th century in Western Europe.
• It spread during the 19th and 20th centuries to other parts of the world.

Significance:

• Nationalism has been the most potent ideology in modern times for human collectivity.
• It has had a greater impact than religion, cosmopolitanism, race, and ethnicity.

Negative Connotations:

• In Europe, nationalism acquired a negative connotation due to its association with Fascism.
• It was a cause for the two World Wars.

Nation

Definition:

• A large body of people united by common descent, history, culture, or language, inhabiting a particular country or territory.

Psychological Bond:

• Defines a people and differentiates them from others.
• Subconscious conviction of belonging to one community.

Historical Perspective:

• A nation is a historically constituted, stable community of people.
• Formed on the basis of common language, territory, economic life, and psychological make-up manifested in a common culture (Joseph Stalin).

Characteristics:

• A large group of people who share the same (real or imagined) culture, food habits, dress, way of life, worldview, past history, and future aspirations.
• Normally, people of a nation live in a fixed geographical area for centuries.

Benedict Anderson

(1936 – 2015)

1. Anglo-Irish political scientist and historian- but lived in USA
2. ‘Print Capitalism’: role of print media in bring capitalism and nationalism
3. Print capitalism also meant a culture in which people were required to be socialized as part of a literate culture- mainstream language/culture
4. He also theorized nationalism in Multi-ethnic empires, and rise of nation-states after fall of Empires post WWI

Books:

1. Imagined Communities - 1983 - famous theorization of nationalism- nation as imagined community

Nation: a socially-constructed community, imagined by the people who perceive themselves as part of a group-

Thus, Anderson declares nation as imagined community.

Ernest Gellner

Nationalism is political principle that holds that national and political units should be congruent (harmony).

Books:

1. Nations and Nationalism - 1983

Anthony D. Smith

"An ideological movement for attaining and maintaining autonomy, unity and identity on behalf of a population deemed by some of its members to constitute an actual or potential 'nation'”

Books:

1. Nationalism - 1994

2 main types

Gradualist: 

1. state sponsored patriotism
2. Through colonization
3. Provincialism

Nationalist:

1. Ethnic nationalism
2. Territorial nationalism

State is defined as having

( As per the Montevideo Convention (1933) 

1. A defined territory and boarder 
2. A permanent population  
3. Sovereignty: both internal & external 
4. An effective government 
5. The capacity to enter into relations with other states.

Nationalism in Thoughts of Modern Indian Political Thinkers

Rabindranath Tagore:

1. Totally against the ideology of nationalism.
2. Viewed the nation (nation-state) as an organized political and economic union of people for mechanical purposes: power, material gain, and competitive advantage.
3. Believed nationalism divides humanity and restricts liberty and free thought.
4. Was a true cosmopolitan.

MK Gandhi:

1. Considered the western nation-state a violent, soulless machine.
2. Influenced by Mazzini’s nationalism in Italy.
3. Countered militant nationalism, propounded by Savarkar and Tilak, through his book Hind Swaraj (1909).
4. Differed from Tagore as Gandhi was not against India attaining political nationalism.

Vinayak Damodar Savarkar:

1. Followed the western notion of Nation.
2. Believed Hindus are a nation in all senses.
3. Defined Hindu Rashtra (Nation) with common territorial identity, common racial identity (Jati), and common cultural identity.
4. Believed in cultural nationalism, not religious nationalism.

Partha Chatterjee's Critique:

1. In "The Nation and Its Fragments" - 1993, Chatterjee criticizes Anderson's framework for its Eurocentric bias.
2. He argues that Anderson's model fails to account for the unique historical and cultural contexts of post-colonial societies.
3. Chatterjee's Concept of "Derivative Discourse": In "Nationalist Thought and the Colonial World", Chatterjee introduces the concept of "derivative discourse".This concept suggests that post-colonial nationalisms are not simply imitations of Western models, but rather complex adaptations and re-workings of colonial discourses.These nationalisms often draw upon pre-colonial traditions and cultural forms to create unique expressions of national identity.
4. In "Nationalist Thought and the Colonial World" - 1986, Chatterjee introduces the concept of "derivative discourse".

Books on Nationalism: