Nationalism

Nationalism has been an ideology with an important function in creating a common national identity in a society throughout history.

It is used to direct and control large masses to establish and maintain the nation-state in different social structures.

The origin of the word “nation” comes from the Latin word “nasci”, which means to be born. Similarly, in Latin language, the word “natio” refers to a group of people united because they were born in a certain region.

After the French Revolution in 1789, the concept of nationalism evolved into a widely recognized political doctrine and movement in the mid-19th century.

Six EU countries have hard-right nationalist parties in government, including Italy, Finland, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Sweden, and the Netherlands. For instance, anti-Islamist Geert Wilders is on the verge of forming the most right-wing government in recent Dutch history.

“Nation” is the name given to human societies in a region that are connected by a common language, values, religion, and history, and have been living in the same geographical area for a certain period of time.

Immigration (including forced migration, refugees, asylum seekers, or legal migrants with the
purpose of education, or work) is a multi-dimensional issue that has both negative and positive effects on nationalism. Immigration movements, which have shaped the economic, political, and social structure of countries throughout history, continue to increase due to social, political, and economic conflicts in some regions like Africa and the Middle-East.

Although it has roots in the 18th century, nationalism has been a phenomenon that has affected human life since the 19th century, and it even transformed empires into nation-states and shaped both colonization and decolonization processes.

Colonialism means that a country dominates another country without its consent and benefits from all kinds of human resources, economic opportunities, and the geographical location of that country.

Political nationalism assumes that a nation has the natural right to self-determination and approaches nationalism from the perspective of political independence. Cultural nationalism, on the other hand, expresses the belief in the reconstruction of an ancient civilization based on a nation’s traditions, customs, and beliefs in the historical process.

Ethnic nationalism aims to preserve a certain ethnic group within the scope of a sense of ethnic difference with very clear boundaries.

Religious nationalism refers to considering a certain religious group as superior by referring to religious texts and beliefs with a fundamentalist understanding of religion and feeling dissatisfied
with people of other religions and beliefs.

Language is generally one of the most important indicators of being a nation in the ideology of nationalism because people who speak the same language are likely to be familiar with each other and feel a sense of belonging to the country where a national language is spoken and also because language contains all the values and elements of culture, identity, and ideology that are created throughout history.

The idea of organic society in nationalism is a result of its interaction with conservatism, which assumes that society is naturally hierarchical and any attempt to introduce equality is undesirable. They believe that people are naturally unequal and that inequality runs throughout society. This allows them to advocate hierarchy through a natural position of authority by one person over another. 

Primordialism suggests that the core of a nation’s identity, which has occasionally been overshadowed by historical events, has always been present and as a result, our sense of national belonging is a natural structure.

General will means that citizens should base themselves on the common good of society, not their individual interests and all individuals should be integrated within society.

Culturalism is the conviction that a nation can rebuild by embracing its traditions, customs, and beliefs regarding history. Therefore, cultural nationalism emphasizes the strengthening or protecting cultural identity for the political purpose of nation-building.

Liberal nationalism was firstly influenced by Rousseau’s idea of the “general will”, and then developed the idea of people’s self-governance in the 19th century. Although individual freedoms are more important for liberals, both the idea of “general will” and liberals aim for the common good of society.

Conservative nationalism is a type of nationalism that tends to develop in institutionalized traditional nation-states because in the process of nation-building before the nationstate, nationalism becomes more important than conservative thought.

Expansionist nationalism and chauvinism exist together, with the belief in one nation’s superiority
and the inferiority of others.

Expansionist nationalism was based on anti-individualism, statism, radical ideas, and expansionist militarism in countries such as Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy during the 20th century.