Lecture 5

                              Types of nationalism and nation-building

                                        Culture or politics?

*      Is N about culture or politics?

*      This question stands at the heart of a heated debate on the nature of N

                                       - N is about politics:

*      N is primarily a political ideal

*      N wants independent state (or at least political autonomy)

*      National identity is political identity connected to the political community

*      Political N - mass national movement for national independence and creation of state

                                       - N is about culture:

*      National claims are not necessarily claims for political sovereignty

*      N can be about the right to preserve the existence of a nation as a distinct cultural entity

*      Cultural N -- elevation of national consciousness and national agitation for greater national
autonomy

                                          Two types of N?

*      CIVIC N (also termed political, voluntary, individualistic, ...)

*      ETHNIC N (also termed cultural, organic, collectivistic, ...)

*      Other typologies have also been suggested (Hechter distinguishes between state-building,
peripheral, irredentist and unification N; Brubaker suggests nationalising, transborder, autonomist
N; etc.)

                                          `West' & `East'

*      `West' vs. `the rest'

*      Hans Kohn's distinction between Western and Eastern forms of nationalism (mainly based on
geographical criteria)

*      This classical classification was revived in the post-1989 period; `resurgence' of N in
Europe

                                              Hence...

*      West

*      Political

*      Civic

*      Western Europe

*      liberal

*      etc.

*      East

*      Cultural

*      Ethnic

*      Central-Eastern Europe (Asia, ...)

*      illiberal

*      etc.

                                       Criteria of membership

*      Civic N: shared commitment to public institutions of the state and civil society

*      Membership in the nation (supposedly) voluntary

*      Ethnic N: emphasis on common descent

*      Membership exclusive

                                             Because...

*      Different experiences and developments between Western and Eastern Europe (not to mention
`the rest of the world')

*      West: relatively strong and stable national identities (18th -- 20th century)

*      CEE: much more conflict over what constitutes a nation; N became equated with `problems'

                                          Nation-building

*      State-to-nation model of the `old continuous nations' (top-down model)

*      Nation-to-state model of cultural nations, stateless nations (community-based view `from
below')

                                     Nation-building in history

*      The `old, continuous' nations and nationalisms of the 18^th century (examples of Britain,
France, Spain)

*      The romantic nationalists and nationalisms of the 19^th century (examples of the unification
of Italy, Germany)

*      The `non-dominant ethnic groups' or `small' or `stateless' nations and nationalisms of the
20^th century

                                       Normative implications

*      Civic as good vs. ethnic as bad

*      Because from the 1780s to the 1870s N meant a liberal, cosmopolitan discourse emphasising the
freedom of all peoples

*      Distinction between morally acceptable N and dangerous, immoral forms of N (see also
distinctions between patriotism and nationalism)

*      Opposition between `Western' patriotism (seen as benign, integrative) & populist `Eastern'
nationalism (emotionally disruptive)

                                              Problems

*      N is about both -- culture and politics

*      All national identities are exclusionary

*      Even F and USA have cultural component (history of F; USA - why learn English and American
history?)

*      Continue to use as ideal-types?

                                       Next week's readings:

*      John Breuilly "The Sources of Nationalist Ideology" in Hutchinson & Smith (1994) Nationalism
pp. 103- 113.

*      Connor, Walker (1994): Ethnonationalism pp. 39-42.

*      Ernest Gellner "Nationalism and Modernization" & "N and High Cultures" in Hutchinson & Smith
(1994) Nationalism pp. 55-70.

*      Anthony Giddens "The Nation as Power-Container" in Hutchinson & Smith (1994) Nationalism pp.
34-35.

*      Weber, Eugen (1976): Peasants into Frenchmen