Nationalism provides a roadmap for dealing with these feelings: retreat into our community, rally around our flag, help our own, look to strong leaders for guidance, and blame our problems on foreigners. Nationalism provides the necessary sense of community and purpose to weather trying times. We know this from looking back at history.
Most often nationalism rises during war and economic hardship. Perhaps this is why politicians have been quick to talk about our response to the pandemic as a war against an invading enemy. As the Covid pandemic gathers strength, we therefore need to be alert to the perils of further embracing an exclusionary, inward-looking nationalist politics. However, this does not mean we need to reject nationalism altogether.
There is another side to nationalism that can be particularly useful in this time of crisis. Scholars have long pointed out that nationalism is not only a divisive ideology. It can also be force for inclusion and solidarity. In its inclusive, liberal variant, nationalism is one of the few ideologies that can truly cut across regional, economic, gender and cultural differences.
Think here of the kind of liberal nationalisms that inspired the French to revolt against a tyrannical king in , or of the countless anti-colonial, independence movements of the 20 th century. The intense feelings of solidarity that these kinds of national movements generate is precisely what inspires people to support their fellow citizens in times of hardship.
The building of social welfare programmes across the West after the Second World War were infused with a similar spirit of liberal nationalism. Nationalism can therefore be a powerful weapon in our arsenal to fight Covid It is often said that nationalism can elicit such a powerful sense of community that it can motivate people to die on behalf of others they will never meet.
If we can tap into the more inclusive, community-building side of nationalism, it can help to bring a sense of common-purpose to our individual efforts. A more open, liberal nationalism also has a paradoxical power to facilitate international collaboration. Our current international order is the result of stable, sovereign nation-states being secure enough in their autonomy to band together.
Nationalism and international collaboration do not need to be opposed. There are indications that this other side of nationalism is emerging. Many thousands have also been inspired to volunteer in their communities, helping in any way that they can. Queen Elizabeth II encapsulated this approach in her recent address to the nation , reinforcing an inclusive and open vision for the UK.
How does nationalism reduce corruption? For many of the same reasons that it improves the economy. Just like parties to a business transaction, public servants who contemplate corruption face an unsavory trade-off: to profit at the expense of fellow nationals. So, if bureaucrats are highly nationalistic, they are also more sensitive to any damage to society, and less prone to abuse public office. Nationalism also changes the mind-set of those affected by corruption.
A nationalistic public is less likely to accept government corruption and simply look the other way. On the other hand, without nationalism, the purely selfish citizen might not care about corruption at all.
To this person, the diluted cost of corruption in his or her life is minimal compared with the effort required to fight it. But a nationalistic citizenry gauges the effect of corruption on the entire nation, and this greater concern for potential abuse triggers the collective response that keeps corruption in check. In social life, too, nationalism makes its presence felt.
As nationalistic citizens care more about each other, they are less likely to break the law and violate the rights of others. The countries endowed with a higher level of nationalism tend to have a stronger rule of law. So what about the cases of nationalism gone bad? Do they tell us anything useful? Yes and no. From power-hungry Napoleonic France to Serbia during the s, these cases show that nationalist aberrations are possible only when other forces are at play.
One such factor is military power. When technological advances and military tactics allow for the easy conquest of other countries, nationalism might be tempted to expand. Similarly, Adolf Hitler exploited German nationalism at a time when blitzkrieg tactics could prove devastating. Nationalism can also be dangerous whenever a single territory is contested by many nations, especially when there is a history of violence among them.
When these conditions exist, as in the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda, civil war is a real possibility. Young democracies are also at a higher risk of virulent nationalism.
In these democratizing states, ambitious leaders might pursue risky strategies — such as invading a neighbor — to boost the immature nationalism of their people for their own motives. However, the important thing about these unsavory forms of nationalism is how rare and sporadic they really are. To cite a few cases as proof that nationalism is always harmful or barbaric is to confuse the exception with the rule.
Most developed strains of nationalism do not promote aggressive expansionism or the abuse of minorities within their borders. That is because contemporary nations are usually missing these other, high-risk conditions. They exist in a world where war is expensive, borders are largely settled, and the actions of nations are usually tied to some moral code. As a result, nationalism today often leads citizens to look inward and focus their energies on bettering their countries.
With nationalism, this is clearly not happening. To be sure, the broad relationships outlined here ought to be further dissected. Perhaps nationalism does not matter much when we account for a host of other factors, such as educational levels and natural resources. A debate could be had about whether nationalism is helpful or simply harmless. At the very least, though, we must move past the simplistic notion that nationalism is only dangerous. What it is, is misunderstood.
Of course, scholars can persist in looking down on nationalism as a backward, unevolved reflex, and governments could continue to fail to develop policies that harness its potential. But this alternative carries a heavy cost. It allows opportunistic leaders and demagogues to control the future of nationalism.
If responsible policymakers have in their hands something proven to encourage increased wealth, lower levels of corruption, and higher obedience to the rule of law, they would only be wise to use it. Shusha was the key to the recent war between Azerbaijan and Armenia. Now Baku wants to turn the fabled fortress town into a resort. Feature Is Nationalism Good for You? It's blamed for everything from unruly populism to genocide.
But what if nationalism isn't the unevolved reflex so many assume it to be? The printing press also has a massive effect, as it allows people to express their culture and nationality to others, which allows others to see far beyond their communities and borders. Moreover, increased migration has led to a rise in right-wing parties as in Europe and Britain Butt, All of this is showing one important fact, which is the rise of nationalism as a response to globalization.
In our global world, being proud of your heritage, culture, and nationality has already become a taboo in many respects Godfrey, Globalization increases awareness of social heterogeneity because democracy allows people to participate and freedom of speech is guaranteed, so groups whose identity is based on race, ethnicity, religion, language have become increasingly vocal and have used the global media to make their discontent known.
After the Cold War, when the state was weakened by globalization, minorities were able to more effectively assert their identity in reaction to hegemonic cultural forces. To that, most scholars believe that nationalism would only intensify as state faces the growing challenge of globalization.
This is to say that when the state is weak, national sense becomes stronger Hobsbawm, Evidence shows that in the former Soviet Union republics, new nationalism was born from insecurity and the search for ethnic purity. Because of globalization, minorities in many countries are mobilizing to demand justice and respect, and established communities often resist these demands Riggs, The USSR has collapsed, and many nationalities and minorities were under USSR protection or repression; these minorities breathe freedom after the collapse and thus they demand their right of ruling themselves based on their identity and nationality.
National mobilization thrives on insecurity and uncertainty as categories of group belonging become sharpened in the heat of contestation. So as a response to a weak state that is no longer a promoter and protector of domestic interests but rather a collaborator with outside forces, minorities have raised their national voice Scholte: quoted in Lerche: In globalization, the powerful countries are those who can have a massive effect on the rest of the globe.
Again, here we see a response from other nationalities and other civilization that feel inferior or less powerful in the age of globalization due to the social, economic, and political status toward the West. Systems of international marketing and communications create freeways for the mass import of foreign cultural materials, food, drugs, clothing, music, film, books, TV programs, with the concomitant loss of control over societies.
Such cultural anxieties are welcome fuel to more radical political groups that call for cultural authenticity, preservations of traditional and religious values and rejection of the alien cultural antigens Fuller: quoted in Lerche: The author here is clear in pointing out how the global system is designed in a way that makes it possible for others to respond. This suggests that globalization is not simply a one-way process, transmitting Western civilization to the rest of the world.
Indeed, experience has shown the quite reverse. In light of this argument, someone like Smith would argue that nationalism is stronger than globalization and therefore it cannot be diminished or made less important.
He added that globalization does not mean the end of nationalism. A cosmopolitan culture that exists today does not have the ability to drive people like nationalism; however, the world is witnessing a rise of extreme nationalism Smith, A. In this view, nationalism emerges as a cultural doctrine, which seeks to preserve and promote the identity, culture, and autonomy of a nation.
According to Beyer,. In response to the modern developments, religious and nationalist leaders may talk about moral or ethical decline by pointing to modern society lack of morality, loss of ethical values, and increased corruption.
Therefore, the solution is to return back to traditional values and religious norms Beyer: quoted in Kinnvall: Now, having addressed the last argument that argues the rise of nationalism is a response to globalization, within this argument lies the rise of fundamentalism. Fundamentalism as a concept refers to those groups who resist not only globalization but also the structure of the globe as a whole.
Thus, this quote suggests that globalization seems to be pulling all identity groups on the planet out of their various degrees of isolation, pushing them into the current of the global structure and thereby obliging them to redefine themes in regard to global trends Lerche, Here we see how globalization has been a direct cause of the rise of fundamentalism through forcing different nationalities and cultures to integrate together and adapt themselves to the new structure.
As a consequence to that, fundamentalism rose up against the force of globalization. Furthermore, the relationship between globalization and the rise of fundamentalism is shaped by the necessity for societies, regions, civilizations, and sub-national entities to declare their identities for both internal and external purposes because of space-time compression. Therefore, fundamentalism is a reaction to globalization Robertson, As I have explained early in this essay, that nationalism is deeply rooted in pre-historical and pre-political processes, fundamentalism as a concept might be similarly misinterpreted by different sides.
Some see it as a destructive movement to nations and to the globe as a whole, while some others see it as a just a mode of thought and practice which has become globally institutionalized in which norms of national and cultural self-determination are felt.
Eventually fundamentalism makes globalization work. Robertson, The Bulgarian national alliance state that they are in favour of establishing a united nationalist front against globalization, NATO, and the EU in its current form, as well as corrupt Bulgarian politics Godfrey, This is an example of the extreme nationalism that strongly supports the argument favoring the rise of nationalism under globalization.
This again shows how those groups feel about the global system and also shows how strong these movements are becoming. Thus, nationalistic groups who want to preserve their identity fight back against the destructive agenda of globalization. In the end, globalization, as it seeks a global community with no national barriers, actually feeds a growing national sense Godfrey, In conclusion, this paper has argued that globalization is a double-edged sword, and that there has been a marked rise of nationalism under globalization.
With growing globalization and the changes it has brought to the world, minorities, nationalities, and localities have awakened and become more aware of the threat of globalization.
This threat exists in the homogenizing nature of globalization, which makes people and nationalities melt down into one. This has led to an increased national sense as a response to the force of globalization in order to protect cultures, traditions, and nationalities form melting or adopting the new structure of the world that is caused by globalization.
However, nationalism has created xenophobia in which people fear that their nationality and traditions will disappear in the face of globalization. Therefore, they create or invent traditions or reestablish old traditions in which they maintain their identity. Thus, fearing the force of globalization has led to an increased sense of nationalism and more defensive means to protect or even invent traditions just to resist globalization.
On the other hand, globalization can be seen as a challenge to nationalism in the way that it increases immigration and the movement of peoples, which might create new sources of tensions and pose new difficulties to the management of cultural and ethnic diversity Natalie, This argument might seem convincible and well argued, but evidence shows the opposite. For example, the EU is an international organization and at the same time it strengthens Europe.
In a globalized world, many features of nationalism seem to have been revived. Increasing migration movements fosters xenophobia among people. Mixing cultures and newly emerging hybrid cultures make it hard for people to find their identity and let them turn towards their own culture Campe, This means that the force of globalization has pushed nationalism to be raised again and be more important than ever as people realize they are lost without their identity and nationality.
Finding an identity is very essential for security reasons in the modern world of insecurities. It is true that globalization has the potential to contain aggressive nationalism that thrives on isolation and insecurity. It also creates incentives for the resolution and prevention of conflict because of the integration. However, at the same time, it generates nationalistic responses in the form of right wing radicalism or religious fundamentalism that reacts to certain aspects of globalization such as immigration and the restructuring of traditional economies Sassen, Benner, E.
Is There a Core National Doctrine? Nations and Nationalisms. Campe, Ch. Globalization and its effects on Nationalism. Delanty, G. London, Sage Publications.
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