Toward a Critique of Nationalism as a Theory of the Nation-State

• Authors: Ghosh Manjulika
• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

The concern of this paper is to critique the political conception of nationalism as a theory of the nation-state. The basic point of the critique is that when the interests of the nation and the principles of the state coincide there emerges a fierce sense of national identity which endangers moral indifference to outsiders, the people within and outside the national boundary, without remorse. Here the attempt to uphold national identity is something more than nationhood. Besides involving territorial identity, common language, custom and culture essential to the idea of a “nation,” it also upholds the consciousness of these as determining separate rights and allegiances, the idea of attachment to a nation and its interests. Such a consciousness can emerge only on the adoption of certain populist ideas such as racism, ethnicity and even such popular elusive myths as the “greatness” of a nation, the urge for the maintenance of “national character,” etc. Such “nationalist xenophobia” leads to the intensification of the distinction between the “own” and the “other,” “national” and the “alien,” the “citizen” and the “migrant” leading to “ethnic disharmony,” “colour bias,” hatred and suspicion of persons with whom one has lived closely as neighbours for decades. The most popular is the economic discourse of the “migrants” putting the “nationals” out of work. All this has its toll on multi-culturalism and humanitarian concerns. Many affluent nations have become cold to human misery, suffering and deaths from wars, terrorism, acute poverty, political persecution, environmental degradation, etc. This has created an “existential” crisis for millions of people on earth. Hence, the paper visualizes that some form of universalism should be revived against extreme individualism of nation-states to envisage the beginning of a new era stronger in the pursuit of justice and more secure in the quest of peace, an era in which nations of the world can prosper and live in harmony. In developing the critique of the nation-state, this paper has dwelt on the views of Rabindranath Tagore on nationalism and those of Hannah Arendt on the fusion of the state and the nation.

Keywords

EN

Nationalism; nation-state; Rabindranath Tagore; Hannah Arendt; populism; protectionism; migration; universalism

• Publisher: Instytut Filozofii i Socjologii Polskiej Akademii Nauk; Fundacja Filozofia Na Rzecz Dialogu
• Journal: Dialogue and Universalism
• Year: 2019
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 57-66

Contributors

author

Ghosh Manjulika

• University of North Bengal, Darjeeling -734013, West Bengal, India.