Nationalism. This essay will focus on why nationalism has been a remarkable influence across the world. Basically it will examine 2 different approaches to nationalism
The world we are living today is often described as a global village. Current affairs across the world and our everyday lives cannot be discussed without mentioning globalisation as its impact is virtually everywhere. National boundaries seem to lose the significance in this interconnected world. As it is linked tighter and tighter due to the increased movements of money, people, products and technology, it seems that the world is becoming integrated as a single unit. However globalisation has boosted or reassured a force which is rather against it - nationalism. Although it has been explained in a variety of ways from different standpoints, it is agreed that nations and nationalism remain among the most powerful phenomena in the contemporary world. This essay will focus on why nationalism has been a remarkable influence across the world. Basically it will examine 2 different approaches to nationalism. Particularly the focus will be placed on the latter approach in relation to current issues.
First approach is called essentialism. According to this explanation, "nations were seen as the natural and primordial divisions of humanity, and nationalism was thought to be ubiquitous and universal."1 In other words, nationalism is inborn phenomenon rather than created or manipulated one. People innately have a desire for belonging as could be seen from lifestyle based on tribal units in pre-modern societies. As tribes or villages could no longer serve their role as a basis for community spirit in modern world, there was a necessary call for an alternative. Nation appeared as an alternative and the feeling of membership to the community has been developed as nationalism. In this way, people belong to a certain nation at their birth and consequently that sense of belonging explains nationalism.
Nation and nationalism continues to exist since people naturally "want to see the continuity between their own lives and their ancestors."2 Here, nation is considered as one of the elements that consists nature therefore it is the ultimate source of power. In this sense it is said that nation can be forgotten or silent but continues to exist like other natural organisms and at a certain moment, it resurges. However it cannot avoid the criticism that it is virtually difficult to see an ethnic or national community as extended form of family or kinship. Furthermore it is controversial whether or not this approach can be a theory since it only places the emphasis on emotional and ideational aspects instead of economic or political ones.
As a reaction to this first approach, the second explanation was put forward. Among them, modernist explanation appears to be a dominant analysis in contemporary world. According to Gellner, one of the eminent scholars of modernist approach, "the economies of industrialized states depend upon a homogenizing high culture, mass literacy and an educational system controlled by the state."3 In other words, cultural homogeneity and state controlled education which were the creatures of modernisation have created and continued nationalism.
What he put forward as one of the reasons for the power of nationalism is people's psychological insecurity ...
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As a reaction to this first approach, the second explanation was put forward. Among them, modernist explanation appears to be a dominant analysis in contemporary world. According to Gellner, one of the eminent scholars of modernist approach, "the economies of industrialized states depend upon a homogenizing high culture, mass literacy and an educational system controlled by the state."3 In other words, cultural homogeneity and state controlled education which were the creatures of modernisation have created and continued nationalism.
What he put forward as one of the reasons for the power of nationalism is people's psychological insecurity about their identity as the world became modernised. As the society has been fragmented and highly differentiated, people's face-to-face relationship lose its place and people are proletarianized in the anonymous city.4 In this process, human being's tendency to find their individual identity within collective one is threatened therefore nostalgia for tradition appears in the form of nationalism. The role of tradition in shaping nationalism is crucial in a sense that the central features that drive nationalism are common memories and amnesia. By sharing common memories and amnesia which represent the key events in the history of a particular political community, people feel secured with a feeling of membership. This feeling of security naturally motivates people to pursue common future in a belief that this will ensure their lives to continue without facing any unexpected threats. This explains how national project can be done successfully by giving new meaning and significance to its people. For example in the case of South Korea which had achieved significant economic development during 1970s, one of the key factors that motivated its people was 'being better' than Japan. Sharing painful historical experience made the society more cohesive to reach its goal.
However Gellner also argues that "nationalism is primarily a political principle, which holds that the political and the national unit should be congruent."5 What is meant here is that nationalism would be prosperous when the power of governance does not exist within its national unit or threatened by external forces. Thus, the desire for sovereignty and self-determination are considered to be a necessary condition for nationalism. However it is not everything. If it is put in another way, it can be said that the pursuit of individual's self-interests strengthens nationalism as well. Here, individuals would rather mean elites and politicians who are considered to benefit most from self-determination. In this manner, it accounts for Marxist's idea. The arguments put forward by Marxists are appreciated of being able to link the tenets of nationalism to the modernisation process and economic development. According to them, nationalism has existed as a kind of means to justify the sovereignty of national leaders. Hobsbaw, Marxist historian, suggested that "the nation is one of the many traditions 'invented' by political elites in order to legitimate their power in a century of revolution and democratization." In this way, the social elites encourage nationalism in order to provide social solidarity and ordinary people are only driven to believe it is for the sake of them through false consciousness.
Nairn saw "nationalism as a product of the uneven development of regions within the world capitalist economy."6 In this way, increased globalisation is placed as one of the reasons. Although globalisation boosted economic development as a whole, it is undeniable to note that it has widened the gap between the developed and developing countries. Consequently this feeling of relative deprivation has reassured nationalism. Another explanation derives from Deutsch who provided the development of communications within the states as a reason. According to his argument, "nationality means an alignment of large numbers of individuals from the middle and lower classes linked to regional centres and leading social groups by channels of social communication and economic intercourse."7 Through improved communication within the state, people are more likely to be involved together thus get common moral and political identity.
Today, investigation on nationalism has moved beyond modernisation. Giddens examines nationalism as an opposing force against more contemporary phenomenon - globalisation suggesting that "nationalism is a significant force resisting globalization but being pulled in its wake."8 The increased influence of supranational institutions on the issues which had purely been determined by national government has weakened national governance. Having said that nationalism appears when the governance unit and the nation are not congruent, globalisation definitely has something to do with increased nationalism at minimum. In this way, in this global era where the competitions as well as dependence among countries is taking place, nationalism is more likely to be used either in a desirable way or destructive way by national leaders. As long as a nation remains as a fundamental unit in dealing with global affairs like what it is now, the force of nationalism would rather be promoted than vanishing.
To conclude, given that nationalism has changing face depending on by whom and how it is activated, there cannot be a single explanation for it. Different explanations stem from different standpoints in economic, political and cultural arenas. Fundamentally it is crucial to understand nationalism as a mixture of two attributes: the political aspect which derives from the belief of congruence of the political and national unit and the cultural aspect which derives from people's desire for belonging to the community. One way or another, either nationalism is a modern or primordial phenomenon, it has been existing in people's consciousness (or unconsciousness). Despite the massive wave of globalisation, it is said that "as long as any global order is based on a balance of competing states, so long will the principle of nationality provide the only widely acceptable legitimation and focus of popular mobilization.9"
REFERENCES
Axford, B. et al. (2002) Politics: an introduction (second edition), Routledge, Abingdon, pp.280
Guibernau, M. (1996) Nationalisms, Polity Press, Cambridge, pp. 2, 48
Miller, D. (1995) On Nationality, Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp.184
Smith, A.D. (1999) Myths and Memories of the Nation, Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp.4, 6
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Alter, P. (1989) Nationalism, Edward Arnold, London
Anderson, B. (1991) Imagined Communities (second edition), Verso, London
Axford, B. et al. (2002) Politics: an introduction (second edition), Routledge, Abingdon
Burnell, P. & Randall, V. (eds) (2005) Politics in the developing world, Oxford University Press, Oxford
Gellner, E. (1983) Nations and Nationalism, Blackwell Publishers Ltd, Oxford
Guibernau, M. (1996) Nationalisms, Polity Press, Cambridge
Hechter, M. (2000) Containing Nationalism, Oxford University Press, Oxford
Heywood, A. (2003) Political ideologies: an introduction (third edition), Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke
Hutchinson, J. & Smith, A.D. (eds) (1994) Nationalism, Oxford University Press, Oxford
Miller, D. (1995) On Nationality, Oxford University Press, Oxford
Smith, A.D. (1995) Nations and nationalism in a global era, Polity Press, Cambridge
Smith, A.D. (1999) Myths and Memories of the Nation, Oxford University Press, Oxford
Smith, A.D. (1999) Myths and Memories of the Nation, Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp.4
2 Miller, D. (1995) On Nationality, Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp.184
3 Guibernau, M. (1996) Nationalisms, Polity Press, Cambridge, pp. 2
4 Smith, A.D. (1999) Myths and Memories of the Nation, Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp. 6
5 Guibernau, M. (1996) Nationalisms, Polity Press, Cambridge, pp.48
6 Guibernau, M. (1996) Nationalisms, Polity Press, Cambridge, pp.2
7 Guibernau, M. (1996) Nationalisms, Polity Press, Cambridge, pp.2
8 Axford, B. et al. (2002) Politics: an introduction (second edition), Routledge, Abingdon, pp.280
9 Smith (1995) cited in Burnell, P. & Randall, V. (eds) (2005) Politics in the developing world, Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp. 86
