Nationalism Lecture 2 Key Concepts Prof LarsErik Cederman

Nationalism Lecture 2: Key Concepts Prof. Lars-Erik Cederman Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) Center for Comparative and International Studies (CIS) Seilergraben 49, Room G. 2 lcederman@ethz. ch http: //www. icr. ethz. ch/teaching/nationalism Assistant: Kimberly Sims, CIS, Room E 3, k-sims@northwestern. edu

Why nationalism has been ignored and misunderstood in the West • Zeitgeist of post-WWII period • Scientific biases: – – – State-Centrism Behaviorism Materialism Individualism “Presentism”

Basic Concepts • Essentially contested concepts (W. Gallie): – – • No generally accepted use Scholars and politicians talk past each other Key concepts: 1. The State 2. The Nation 3. Nationalism Also: nation-state, ethnic category etc.

1. Defining the state • Max Weber: A formal organization that enjoys monopoly on legitimate violence within its territory • Corollaries: – Internal sovereignty – External sovereignty – Clear boundary Max Weber

2. Defining the nation • Some alternative definitions: – Ernest Renan: “an everyday plebiscite” – Joseph Stalin: “a historically constituted, stable community of people, formed on the basis of a common language, territory, economic life, and psychological make-up manifested in a common culture” Ernest Renan Joseph Stalin

2. Defining the nation, cont’d • Another alternative definitions: – A. D. Smith: “a named human population sharing an historical territory, common myths and historical memories, a mass, public culture, a common economy and common legal rights and duties for all members”

Weber’s definition of the nation • Max Weber: “a community of sentiment which would adequately manifest itself in a state of its own” and thus “tends to produce a state of its own” • Note 1: Imagined community, not objective group • Note 2: Not any conscious group: dependence on state

Ethnicity ≠ Nationalism • An ethnic community (or an ethnie) is a cultural community based on a common belief in real or putative descent (Max Weber) • An ethnic category are based on cultural markers that are imposed by outside observers (see Paul Brass)

Conceptual Overview Ethnic Category Ethnic Community Nation State Boundaries objective, externally imposed self-perceived, categorical objective, territorial Source of cohesion — solidarity, direct links & categories nationalism categorical mass loyalty patriotism & enforcement Normative principle — tradition national selfdetermination territorial sovereignty Examples: colonial peoples before decolonization Germany and Italy before 19 th century Germany and Italy from early 19 th C. Habsburg Empire

3. Defining Nationalism • A. D. Smith 1. • 2. 3. 4. process of forming and maintaining nations and nationstates national consciousness language and symbolism ideology or cultural doctrine 5. social and political movement 4. + 5. = “an ideological movement of attaining and maintaining autonomy, unity and identity on behalf of a population deemed by some of its members to constitute an actual nation or potential ‘nation’”

What is that ideology about? A. D. Smith: • World divided into nations • Nation source of all political and social power • Freedom requires national identification • Nations must be free

Defining nationalism continued. . . • Ernest Gellner: “nationalism is primarily a political doctrine, which holds that the political and the national unit should be congruent” • My modification: “a specific ideology with European origins stating that each nation should possess its own state or at least some degree of territorial selfdetermination. ” Ernest Gellner

States and nations

Three types of nationalism