CHAPTER 7

NATIONALISM

Introducing nationalism

 Nationalism: It means the collective belongingness, loyalty or national consciousness towards

nation.
 People commonly understand by the term nationalism we are likely to get responses which talk
about patriotism, national flags, sacrificing for the country, and the like.
 The Republic Day parade in Delhi is a striking symbol of Indian nationalism and it brings out
the sense of power, strength, as well as diversity which many associate with the Indian nation.
 But there is no precise definition of nationalism.
 Nationalism plays an important role in world affairs.
 During the last two centuries or more, nationalism has emerged as one of the most
compelling of political creeds which has helped to shape history.
 It has inspired intense loyalties as well as deep hatreds.
 It has united people as well as divided them, helped to liberate them from oppressive rule as
well as been the cause of conflict and bitterness and wars.
 It has been a factor in the break-up of empires and states.
 Nationalist struggles have contributed to the drawing and redrawing of the boundaries of states
and empires.
 Nationalism has passed through many phases.
 The nineteenth century Europe, it led to the unification of a number of small kingdoms into
larger nation-states.
 A large number of new states were also founded in Latin America.
 The people of the new states acquired a new political identity which was based on membership
of the nation-state.
 The struggle for freedom from colonial rule by India and other former colonies were nationalist
struggles, inspired by the desire to establish nation-states which would be independent of
foreign control.
 The process of redrawing state boundaries continues to take place.
 Nationalism is a powerful force in the world even today.
 Nations and Nationalism
 A nation is not any casual collection of people. At the same time, it is also different from other
groups or communities found in human society.
 It is commonly believed that nations are constituted by a group who share certain features such
as descent, or language, or religion or ethnicity.
 But there is in fact no common set of characteristics which is present in all nations. Many
nations do not have a common language e.g., Canada.
 India also has a large number of languages which are spoken in different regions and by
different communities.
 Nation: A nation is to a great extent an ‘imagined’ community, held together by the collective
beliefs, aspirations and imaginations of its members. It is based on certain assumptions which
people make about the collective whole with which they identify.

The assumptions which people make about the nation.

 Shared belief: First, a nation is constituted by belief. Nations are not like mountains, rivers or
buildings which we can see and feel.
 They are not things which exist independent of the beliefs that people have about them. Rather, it is
to refer to the collective identity and vision for the future of a group which aspires to have an
independent political existence.

 History: Second, people who see themselves as a nation also embody a sense of continuing historical
identity.
 That is, nations perceive themselves as stretching back into the past as well as reaching into the future.
 Jawaharlal Nehru, for instance, wrote in his book The Discovery of India, “Though outwardly there
was diversity and infinite variety among the people, everywhere there was that tremendous impress
of oneness, which held all of us together in ages past, whatever political fate or misfortune had befallen
us”.

 Territory: Third, nations identify with a particular territory.

 Sharing a common past and living together on a particular territory over a long period of time gives
people a sense of their collective identity. It helps them to imagine themselves as one people.

 Shared political Ideals: Fourth, while territory and shared historical identity play an important role
in creating a sense of oneness, it is a shared vision of the future and the collective aspiration to have
an independent political existence that distinguishes groups from nations.
 In a democracy, it is shared commitment to a set of political values and ideals that is the most desirable
basis of a political community or a nation-state.

 Common political Identity: They seek instead a shared cultural identity, such as a common language,
or common descent.
 Observing the same festivals, seeking the same holidays, and holding the same symbols valuable can
bring people together, but it can also pose a threat to the values that we cherish in a democracy. There
are two reasons for this.
 One, all major religions in the world are internally diverse. They have survived and evolved through a
dialogue within the community.
 Two, most societies are culturally diverse. They have people belonging to different religions and
languages living together in the same territory.
 To impose a single religious or linguistic identity as a condition of belonging to a particular state would
necessarily exclude some groups. It might restrict the religious liberty of the excluded group or
disadvantage those who do not speak the national language.

 National Self determination

 Nations, unlike other social groups, seek the right to govern themselves and determine their future
development. They seek, in other words, the right to self-determination.
 Humanity paid a heavy price for re-organising boundaries in a way that culturally distinct communities
could form separate nation-states.
 Besides, even in this effort it was not possible to ensure that the newly created states contained only
one ethnic community.
 The right to national self-determination has also been asserted by national liberation movements in
Asia and Africa when they were struggling against colonial domination.
 Nationalist movements maintained that political independence would provide dignity and recognition
to the colonised people and also help them to protect the collective interests of their people.
 Most national liberation movements were inspired by the goal of bringing justice and rights and
prosperity to the nation.
 The dilemma to deal with movements for self-determination and this has raised questions about the
right to national self-determination.
 More and more people are beginning to realise that the solution does not lie in creating new states but
in making existing states more democratic and equal.
 That is, in ensuring that people with different cultural and ethnic identities live and co-exist as partners
and equal citizens within the country.
 This may be essential not only for resolving problems arising from new claims for self-determination
but also for building a strong and united state.

Demand for Self – Determination in Basque

 Basque is a hilly and prosperous region in Spain. This region is recognised by the
Spanish government as an ‘autonomous’ region within the Spanish federation.
 Basque Nationalists say that their culture is very different from the Spanish culture.
They have their own language that does not resemble Spanish at all. Only one-third of
the people in Basque understand that language today.
 The modern Basque Nationalist Movement started when, around the end of nineteenth
century, the Spanish rulers tried to abolish this unique political administrative
arrangement. In the twentieth century, the Spanish dictator Franco further cut down
this autonomy.

 Nationalism and Pluralism

 The Indian constitution has an elaborate set of provisions for the protection of religious, linguistic and
cultural minorities.
 The kinds of group rights which have been granted in different countries include constitutional
protection for the language, cultures and religion, of minority groups and their members.
 Different groups need to be granted recognition as a part of the national community. This means that
the national identity has to be defined in an inclusive manner which can recognise the importance and
unique contribution of all the cultural communities within the state.
 To sum up, the right to national self-determination was often understood to include the right to
independent statehood for nationalities.
 Today we witness many struggles for the recognition of group identities, many of which employ the
language of nationalism. While we need to acknowledge the claims of identity, we should be careful
not to allow identity claims to lead to divisions and violence in the society. We need to remember that
each person has many identities.
 In a democracy the political identity of citizen should encompass the different identities which people
may have.
 It would be dangerous if intolerant and homogenising forms of identity and nationalism are allowed
to develop.

Tagore’s critique of Nationalism:

He was against colonial rule and asserted India’s right to independence. He felt that in the British
administration of the colonies, there was no place for ‘upholding of dignity of human
relationships,’ an idea which was otherwise cherished in the British civilisation. Tagore made a
distinction between opposing western imperialism and rejecting western civilisation.

 Multiculturalism:

 Multiculturalism in the general senses is the coexistence of people of different religions, cultural
groups and communities in all countries of the globe.
 Originated in the 1970s with a counter- culturalism and human rights movement in opposition to
homogenization of other cultures in favor of the while culture of America and Europe, multiculturalism
broadly comprises the principles of both ‘acceptance’ and ‘reverence’.