Title: Will You Become Your Own Nation?
1Will You Become Your Own Nation?
- Nationalism and Politics Under Globalization
2Authority in the Modern World
The Thirty Years War (1618-48) Treaty of
Westphalia
Rise of Modern Capitalism (17th-18th Centuries)
Sovereignty
Order
Markets
3Identity in the Modern World
Communications Technologies (Printing Press,
16th century)
Shared historical experience
Shared Traits (Identity)
Shared Imagination
National Identity
4The Collision (Collusion?) of Authority and
Identity
National Identity
Sovereignty
Nationalism and self determination
The Nation-State, from the French Revolution
(1789)
5The three waves of nationalism
- In fact, there were really not very many
countries at all at the mid-point of the 19th
century. We often think of the United States as
being rather new compared to Europe but in
fact, only Britain, France, the Netherlands,
Portugal, and perhaps Spain, predate the United
States as independent countries (Germany was not
united until 1871, Italy not until 1860). - Nationalism was actually one of the primary
forces that led to the creation of independent
countries (it was not the only force, but it was
one of the principal ones). So where did it come
from? - Nationalism emerged in three distinct periods,
which we should quickly consider - The French Revolution and the era of liberal
nationalism - World War One and the principle of
self-determination - World War Two and the period of decolonization
- NOTE this makes nationalism a distinctively
modern phenomenon. Some argue that there was
such a thing as premodern nationalism (i.e. in
ancient Israel, Babylon, etc.). Occasionally
scholars may use the word. But most political
scientists see nationalism as not being really
born until the 18th century.
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7Wave I Liberal Nationalism
- Nationalism as we know it was born out of one of
the great revolutions of the 17th and 18th
centuries. There were three revolutions that had
a profound and lasting impact upon the modern
political world - The glorious revolution in England (1688) gave
us the notion of constitutional monarchy (a form
of democracy). - The American Revolution (1776) was a fight
against absolutism (perhaps best expressed in
modern terms as patriotism), but virtually
ignored in Europe. But the American revolution
was not so much about nationalism as about a set
of political and civic values. Later, American
nationalism grows, particularly in the war of
1812-4. - The French Revolution (1789) witnessed the birth
of modern nationalism.
8The French Revolution
- Nationalism emerged in the French revolution as
the force that led French people to defend the
revolutionary state against the reactionary
forces led by the British and Austro-Hungarians
who wanted to suppress the revolution and restore
the monarchy and aristocracy to power. - It proved to be a devastatingly powerful force.
At first, others outside France were shocked by
it they saw an idea that led French citizens to
want to kill and die for their common identity,
and they thought it was savage and barbaric! - The French revolution gave us the idea of the
national anthem, and the national flag becomes
more than just a military identifying mark (the
national flag was used, for example, in the
United States before the French revolution, but
it was simply a way to distinguish between
friendly and enemy forces, particularly ships). - Following the French revolution, Napoleon began
to export the idea of nationalism to other parts
of Europe where peoples lived under the tutelage
of old empires (Southern Europe, Eastern Europe,
etc.). The first part of the 19th century
represents the explosion of nationalism onto the
geopolitical scene, culminating in the great wave
of peoples revolutions across Europe in 1848
(some successful, some not).
9Wave II World War One and the principle of
self-determination
- World War One (1914-18) may be considered to be
the last of the old wars (elites against
elites) and the first of the modern wars, in
which nation fought nation. - The war was followed by a conference in France,
when the major powers got together and discussed
the geopolitical future. - Out of these discussions, the Treaty of
Versailles (1919) established the principle of
self-determination and carved out new
nation-states in central Europe and the Balkans - In the Middle East, new boundaries were drawn out
of the rubble of the Ottoman empire, and new
states created however, these states did not
often satisfy the specific demands of the local
populations for self-determination, as their
rulers were imposed by the colonial powers. Thus
Arab nationalism was to become a growing
political force through the 20th century.
10Wave III WWII and decolonization
- WWII signaled an end of the dominance of the old
European powers in the world. Britain was
exhausted, France and the Netherlands in ruins,
Germany defeated. The United States, mostly as a
result of the onset of the Cold War with the
USSR, wanted to get as much sympathy on the side
of the capitalist countries, and pushed the
European powers to decolonize quickly. - This was mainly expressed in the break-up of old
colonial empires, much of it under strong
pressure from the US. - However, decolonization also took place against
the back-drop of the Cold War the way in which
independence took place was often determined by
the intense rivalry between the United States and
the USSR.
11The Fourth Wave?
- The end of the Cold War has meant the break-up of
formerly communist states like the USSR.
Czechoslovakia (now the Czech Republic and
Slovakia), and Yugoslavia (now five independent
states). In many other places, national peoples
are beginning to reassert old demands for
self-determination. - This raises an uncomfortable question what are
the limits to self-determination? As part of
this question, we might think about the size of
the nation. The world has witnessed the rise of
so-called ethno-nationalism, meaning nationalism
on a very small scale, where ethnic groups take
on nationalist characteristics and demands (think
about the size of Kosovo, for example look it up
on the internet and or on a map). - Globalization has led to new migration,
immigration, and population pressures. - Some have said, paradoxically, that globalization
also might be leading to the break-down of
national cultures, as we see the rise of things
like global consumerism, communications, travel,
etc. - As a question for discussion do we think that
national identity is in some way challenged by
globalization? For example, do we think that
Europeans and Americans are becoming more alike
in significant ways? If globalization were to
challenge national identity, do we think this is
a good or bad thing?
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