Introduction to Nationalism - Social 20-1

Nations & Identity

Nation

  • Nation: people with a sense of belonging together.

  • Desires of a nation: to control their own destiny.

  • Nations may not have official borders or government.

    Examples of a nation

    • Kurdish: an ethnic group comprised of Iraq, Iran, Turkey and Syria

    • Basque: an ethnic group centered around culture and language, comprised of Spain & France

    • Tibetan: cultural and historical ethnic group, under China.

    • Roma: ethnic identity spread across countries such as Romania. Formerly known as Gypsies.

    • Samis: an indigenous ethnic nation within Scandinavia

    • Francophones: a French speaking nation within Canada.

Nation state/country

  • Nation state: a geographic area, defined by official borders.

  • Nation state status: must be recognized by other countries/governments.

  • 190+ nation states worldwide.

  • Examples of a nation state: Canada, France, Italy, Germany and China

Internationalism

  • International: between countries and nation states.

  • Countries may cooperate with oneanother to promote a variety of objectives:

    • peace/security, e.g. Afghanistan, War on Terror

    • trade (e.g. NAFTA, trade agreements)

    • healthcare abroad (e.g. COVID-19 vaccines)

    • protections of peoples & cultures (e.g. Saudi treatment of women)

Nationalism

Nationalism: the idea of striving for a country.

Aspects of Nationalism

  • National identity: strong identification with a particular nation and its characteristics, e.g. language, traditions and history.

  • National unity: unity amongst the people of the nation, therefore creating common purpose and destiny.

  • Sovereignty: autonomy and self determination, both politically and culturally.

  • Nationalistic movements: sought to achieve or defend independence and the interests of the nation.

Patriotism

  • Patriotism: love and sense of loyalty towards country.

  • Patriotism manifests in expressions of national pride and symbols,

    • Canada Day

    • Olympics

    • Military parades

    • Anthems/pledge of allegiance

    • Voting

Understandings of Nationalism

Language

  • Language creates the mindset of a distinct nation.

  • Common language leads to feelings of belonging.

  • e.g. Quebec & Francophones

Ethnic nationalism

  • Nations can be groups who share the same ethnic similarities: race, culture, linguistics.

  • United and similar peoples together

  • May lead to the loathing of other nations, e.g. the Yugoslavian civil war

Cultural understanding

  • Culture: the way of life that people share.

  • Cultural nationalism: unifying groups amongst the same way of life.

  • Related to ethnicity (not always the case.)

Religion

  • Important understanding of a nation.

  • Religions may not have a defining nation.

  • Religion often overrides cultural differences, such as language.

Geography

  • Geography affects the development of nation, for instance, Tibet, who because of their isolation around mountains, developed separately.

  • Regionalism: people pulled together based on geographic similarities or differences, e.g. Western Canada.

  • The area which a group inhibits is not always directly related to geography.

  • Blackfoot Nation: this nation has a spiritual relationship with the land.

Spirituality

  • Land and peoples can be bound together by spirituality, e.g. sacred sites.

  • Often, but not always, has a religious connection.

  • Jerusalem: a holy site for the Jewish, for Christians and for Muslims, such as Temple Mount, the holiest Jewish site that is also important to Christians.

Social standing

  • Social standing: one’s status within society, a relative ranking of people.

  • e.g. lower/middle/high classes

  • Impacts resource access, such as to wealth, property and privilege

  • Social class also fosters unity, e.g. unions.

  • e.g. the Indian Caste System

History

  • History: common history, such as pain & suffering

  • Shared struggle: sharing in pain together results in more empathy from members of the nation.

Economic

  • Economic: how people trade and manufacture amongst themselves, developing common purpose.

  • Interactions economically are based on wealth distribution and division, e.g. the wealth gap.

  • Wealth gap: the difference between the wealth of the upper, middle and lower classes of Canada.

    • Canada attempts to equalize with progressive taxation in its mixed economy.

Political

  • Self determination: the power to control one’s own affairs.

  • Sovereignty: the political authority to control one’s own affairs

  • Can a nation exist without self determination and sovereignty, to be able to act in it’s own interests?

Civic Nationalism

Civic nationalism: shared values and beliefs expressed in law.

Rule of Law

  • Rule of Law: reflects the shared values of people

  • Rule of Law in Canada: the Charter of Rights & Freedoms, the Constitution and the Criminal Code

  • Constitution: the blueprint for a country’s functions. Effectively a rulebook.

  • Enshrinement: rules and laws intentionally made difficult to change.

Sharing rules & laws creates a civic nation. No matter what, all Canadians have this in common.

Civic nationalism is the making of a civic nation.

Civic: refers to citizens.

Civic government: government run by citizens.

Involvement: citizen participation.

Civic Nationalism in Canada

Other differences can become secondary of the rule of law binds together a nation state.

Success can be based on acceptance of differences.

  • accommodation of others: reasonable accommodation: any change to the rule of law that does not affect others negatively

    • e.g. Baltej Singh Dhillon

  • When a group of people agree to live together and adapt common principles, a nation state is formed.

  • Shared common values and laws fosters civic nationalism, e.g. the UK.

  • Ethnic nationalism: when a group shares other characteristics other than rule of law.

    • creation of modern Germany in 1871.

Canadian Nationalism

  • National identity: sense of belonging to a collective or community.

  • Nationalism and identity are often related; some may define themselves with the culture they feel most closely connected to.

  • Identity changes and grows as values/goals change, therefore national identity evolves.

Differing visions of Canada

  • country of many identities versus none

    • Mike Myers: Canadians are not American

    • Canadians just “are”, shrugs off any explicit identity.

History

  • Canadian history: generally stories about taming/surviving nature.

  • Survival considered the “essence” of Canada, a vast land with a widely spread population and a unique climate.

  • National myths: shared stories, ideas and beliefs. Develops national identity and a shared history.

    • Evolves with the country, e.g. igloos, maple syrup, always polite, always winter.