Hva kjennetegner nasjonalisme som politisk
prosjekt? Bruk gjerne eksempler fra et
eller flere av områdene EURAM-programmet dekker.
Nationalism
is one of those words deeply rooted in everyday lives and people’s minds- we
all know what the word means and use it often but perhaps never really question
its meaning. What, actually, is nationalism? How can we define it? In what way
can it be seen as a political project? In this essay I will try to answer these
questions.
A political project is “the set of principles,
ideas, objectives and ambitions that are designed in order to increase the
well-being of the whole society” and “also includes the concrete steps that
need to be taken in order to make the objectives come about.”[1]
Before answering the questions on what nationalism is and in what way it can be
seen as a political project, we have to ask: What is a nation? Oxford English
Dictionary defines it as “a large body of people united by common descent,
history, culture, or language, inhabiting a particular state or territory”[2].
The
term “nationalism” may be defined as “patriotic feeling, principles, or efforts;
an extreme form of patriotism marked by a feeling of superiority over other
countries; advocacy of political independence for a particular country”[3].
However, because the term itself is ambiguous with different layers of meaning,
nationalism may be associated with different things and have both positive and
negative connotations- positive like patriotism, anti-colonial nationalism,
negative like chauvinism, racism, xenophobia, etc.
As language is one of the basic features of and linked
concepts with nationalism, the standardisation of a language is an example of
nationalism as a political project. In France, for instance, French is the
language used in daily life and in media, taught at school and required at work
but the majority of people in Brittany speak Breton, a Celtic language
unrelated to French. “Why do the survival and revival of the Breton language
seem so important to many Bretons?” “Their language forms an important part of
their cultural identity”, “since the French state chose the French language as
the foremost symbol of its nationalism, the most efficient and visible kind of
resistance against that nationalism may be a rejection of that language.”[4]
Nationalism can be divided into two main kinds: ethnic nationalism (“a form of
nationalism wherein the "nation" is defined in terms of ethnicity”[5])
and civic nationalism (which “defines the nation as an association of people
who identify themselves as belonging to the nation, who have equal and shared
political rights, and allegiance to similar political procedures”[6]).
In this case, we can see that the standardisation of the French language is
civic nationalism as a political project and the Bretons’ decision to keep
their own language is ethnic nationalism.
Nationalism can also be demonstrated in other aspects and
policies. In history, nationalism was the main foundation of Fascism and Nazism
and could be seen in the form of racial theory in education and propaganda,
speeches and posters emphasising national pride, propaganda against the Jews
and other ethnic groups and xenophobic/ racist policies, etc[7].
Today, the Chinese government intended to make Hong Kong school children to
take Chinese patriotism classes, saying “the subject was important to foster a
sense of national belonging and identity”[8],
or more precisely, it was meant as a programme to teach Hong Kong children to
feel that they are Chinese and belong to the People’s Republic of China. Or,
Tibetan people have accused the Chinese government of the sinicisation of Tibet
by means of cultural assimilation, opening of Chinese schools, closure of
Tibetan monasteries, migration of Chinese people to Tibet, political reform,
Patriotic Education, etc[9].
An instance of nationalism, as a political project, at an individual level may
be Anders Behring Breivik’s bombing and shooting in the name of nationalism,
stating that “the purpose of the attack was to save Norway and Western Europe
from a Muslim takeover, and that the Labour Party had to pay the price for letting
down Norway and the Norwegian people"[10].
All of these are different examples of nationalism as a political project.
In some other cases, a sovereign state consists of
different countries with different peoples, where, therefore, the sense of
ethnic nationalism is stronger. One example is the United Kingdom, which
consists of England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Civic nationalism
promotes Britishness as a collective national identity for English, Irish,
Scottish and Welsh peoples and emphasises both the cohesion and diversity of
the people of the UK[11].
The civic nationalists are also called unionists. However, there are people who
wish for Irish or Scottish independence from the UK, who may be called
separatists. The Irish separatists see Ireland as one nation of the Irish
people and therefore wish Northern Ireland to leave the UK and be reunited with
Southern Ireland. Similarly, ethnic nationalism in Scotland means as either the
advocacy of Scottish home rule- greater autonomy within the UK, or as advocacy
of Scottish independence- Scotland becoming a sovereign state again (supported
by the Scottish National Party)[12].
As these two kinds of nationalism have different ideas, principles
and objectives, they are also different in terms of politics. “If one ethnic
group controls the state, then its nationalism is expressed as official
nationalism or patriotism. [...] But an ethnic group which does not control the
state expresses its nationalism in opposition to the state”[13].
In the politics of nationalism we have ruling national parties, opposition
nationalist parties, nationalist movements, national liberation armies, etc.
“Nationalist movements took root everywhere, some directed towards national
unification (Italy and Germany), some to throwing off the rule of multinational
empires (Greece, Belgium, Poland, Hungary, Serbia), and some to breaking away
from long-established kingdoms (Ireland, Norway).”[14]
In fact, it is more common that nationalism leads to the break-up of existing
states rather than the joining of several into one large state, because the
basic features of a nation are language, history, culture, ethnicity..., the
differences in culture, religion, traditions, language... between different
ethnic groups are likely to cause conflicts and lead to the break-up of the
union. There can be other factors such as economic discontent, regional uneven
economic development and differences in economic structures. Some examples are
Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia and the Soviet Union, which show the triumph of
ethnic nationalism over official or state nationalism, thanks to the activities
of nationalist parties, ‘Popular Fronts’, writers’ and intellectual’s societies
and elections and/or referendums. “A closed non-democratic system, on the other hand, or a democratic
system based on majority rule which oppresses minority nations, will lead
nationalism into underground and terrorist activities.”[15]
In some cases, it may lead to a civil war, as in Ireland (1921) or Algeria
(1962)[16].
In conclusion, “nationalism can take psychological,
cultural or political forms: usually all three. Nationalist ideology can be
left-wing, right-wing, constructive of new states or destructive of existing
states. It can protect or destroy freedom, establish peace or lead to war.”[17]
Nationalism can mean different things in different situations, to different
people and groups of people, can have both positive and negative connotations
and be demonstrated differently in politics.
[4]
Thomas Hylland Eriksen, Ethnicity and Nationalism (England:
European Union, 2002), p.108, 109
[13]
James G. Kellas, The Politics of Nationalism and Ethnicity (United
States: St. Martin’s Press, Inc, 1998), p.69, 70
[14]
Ibid, p.40
[15]
James G. Kellas, The Politics of Nationalism and Ethnicity,
p.74
[16]
Ibid
[17]
Ibid, p.41
Bibliography
”Anders Behring Breivik”. Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anders_behring_breivik
Blum, George P. The Rise of Fascism in Europe. United States of America: Greenwood Press, 1998.
”British Nationalism”. Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_nationalism
“Devolution in the United Kingdom”, Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Devolution_in_the_United_Kingdom
Eriksen, Thomas Hylland. Ethnicity and Nationalism. England: European Union, 2002.
“Ethnic Nationalism”. Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethnic_nationalism
“Fascism”. Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fascism
“History of Tibet (1950- present)”. Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Tibet_(1950%E2%80%93present)
“Ireland”. Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ireland
Kellas, James G. The Politics of Nationalism and Ethnicity. United States of America: St. Martin’s Press, Inc., 1998.
“Liberal Nationalism”. Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberal_nationalism
Liu, Juliana. “Hong Kong backs down over Chinese patriotism classes”, BBC News, http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-19529867
“Nation”. Oxford Dictionaries, http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/nation?q=nation
“Nationalism”. Oxford Dictionaries, http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/nationalism?q=nationalism
“Nationalism”. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/nationalism/
“Nationalism”. Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nationalism
“Nazism”. Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nazism
“Political Project”. Google- Web Definitions, https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&ie=UTF-8#hl=en&newwindow=1&tbo=u&q=political+project&tbs=dfn:1&sa=X&ei=Q8qeULvdD4jl4QTlvoDACQ&ved=0CCwQkQ4&fp=1&bpcl=38093640&ion=1&biw=1366&bih=667&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_qf.&cad=b
Oxford Readers. Nationalism, edited by John Hutchinson and Anthony D. Smith. England: Oxford University Press, 1994.
“Scottish Nationalism”. Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scottish_nationalism
“Sinicization of Tibet”. Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinicization_of_Tibet
Wray, Michael. “Compulsory Chinese patriotism classes for Hong Kong school pupils ditched after wave of protest”, The Telegraph, http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/hongkong/9530554/Compulsory-Chinese-patriotism-classes-for-Hong-Kong-school-pupils-ditched-after-wave-of-protest.html
Written by me for course Exfac03 and finished in November 2012.
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