PO101 Lecture Notes - Lecture 7: Ernest Gellner, Civic Nationalism, Ethnic Nationalism
Document Summary
Nationalism is evil, it causes wars, its roots lie in racism. Disguised as patriotism and love of one"s county, it trades on the unreason of mass psychology to make a variety of horrors seem honourable. Defining a nation: a soul, spiritual principle. Two things constitute the spiritual principle: one is in the past, the other in the present. One is the common possession of the rich legacy of memories: nations constantly change, it is up to the people to define their nation, nation is a daily plebiscite (ernest renan, 1882). Basic assumption of nationalism allows for nations to constantly change. Civic nationalism: politcal nation, inclusive, universal, rational, citizenship based, civic loyalties. Ethno-cultural nationalism: historical nation, exclusive, particularism, emotional/ mystical, based on decent, organic, ethnic allegiances, cultural unity. Historically, kingdoms and empires were all grouped together in one big group. When nationalism became to be more prominent, this became an issue. The process of dividing into nations happened after wwi.
