Contemporary Debates on Nationalism: A Critical Engagement

119 Pages·2005·7.233 MB·English

by  Umut Ozkirimli

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Also by Umut Ozkznmlz Contemporary Debates on
TheQries of Nationalism: A Critical Introduction
Nationalism
Nationalism and its Futures
A Critical Engagement
UmutOzkmmh
o
* © Umut Ozklflmh 2005 giizel insanlar
of
All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or'transmission this o gilzel atlara binip
publication may be made without written permission. gitmediler:
No paragraph of 't his publication may' be'reproduced, copied or transw Biitiin ,irkinliklere inat
mitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provi~ bizimk birlikte
sions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the
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work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
To my father; Atilla Ozkznmlz
First published 2005 by
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Contents
List of Tables x
Preface xi
1. Introduction 1
Context 2
Aims 7
Structure 10
2. What is Nationalism? 13
Competing definitions of nationalism 15
Objective vs. subjective definitions 15
Culture or politics? 20
+
Types of nationalism 22
Two types of nationalism? 22
A critique of the ethnic-civic distinction 24
Normative implications 26
Nationalism as discourse 28
3. The Theory of Nationalism 34
The modernity of nationalism 35
Continuities, discontinuities 36
The origins of nations and nationalism 38
The resilience of nations 42
The nature of nationalism 44
Invented or 'reconstructed? 45
The issue of resonance 47
New approaches to nationalism 50
Blood sacrifice and violence 51
Borders and boundaries 53
Identity and difference 54
Gender and sexuality 56
A theory of nationalism? 61
vii
viii Contents Contents ix
4. The Normative Claims of Nationalism 63 Theoretical implications 176
Normative arguments in defense of nationalism 65 Mapping the discourse of nationalism 179
The liberation argument 65 The spatial dimension 179
The identity argument 68 The temporal dimension 183
The cultural context argument 72 The symbolic dimension 187
The public good argument 76 The everyday dimension 190
The intrinsic value argument 81
The issue of national partiality 84 8. Conclusion: Postnational Futures 195
What is so special about our fellow nationals? 84
Equality, justice and national partiality 87
Bibliography 206
Do we need nationalism? 90
Index 222
5. Nationalism, Mnlticnlturalism and Liberalism 95
Liberal nationalism 96
Liberals or nationalists? 97
A critique of the liberal nationalist project 100
Multiculturalism and the politics of recognition 104
Liberal theory of multiculturalism 106
The politics of recognition 110
A critique of liberal multiculturalism 113
The promise of dialogue 120
6. Nationalism and Globalization 126
Globalization and the 'crisis' of nationalism 126
Debates on globalization 127
The challenge of globalization 131
The cosmopolitan alternative 138
Which cosmopolitanism? 139
Critiques of cosmopolitanism 144
Cosmopolitanism reconfigured 149
Globalization as opportunity 154
7. Rethinking Nationalism: a Social
Constructionist Approach 162
The elements of a social constructionist approach 164
Contingency 166
Heterogeneity and plurality 168
Change 169
The problem of reification 171
Reproduction, agency and resistance 173
Tables Preface
1.1 Armed conflicts for self-determination and their In his famous poem, Ithaca, the distinguished Greek poet
outcomes, 1956-2002 3 Constantine P. Cavaty (1863-1933), writes:
1.2 Electoral results of radical nationalist parties in
national parliamentary elections in Europe, 1996-2003 5 When you set out on your journey to Ithaca,
pray that the road is long,
full of adventure, full of knowledge
The .Laistrygonians and the Cyclops,
the angry Poseidon - do not fear them:
You will never find such as these on your path,
if your thoughts remain lofty, if a fine
emotion touches your spirit and your body.
The Laistrygonians and the Cyclops,
the fierce Poseidon you will never encounter,
if you do not carry them within your soul,
if your soul does not set them up before you.
The journey of this book has indeed been long. I have met the
Laistrygonians and the Cyclops quite a few times on the road, as it
has not always been possible to keep my thoughts lofty. A number
of people helped me carry on during those difficult times. Among
them, my friends and colleagues in the Department ofInternational
Relations at Istanbul Bilgi University, and Taner Berksoy, the Dean
of the Faculty of Economics and Social Sciences, deserve special
mention as they relieved me from some of my duties in the last two
years to enable me to complete this book. Steven Kennedy has been
not only a patient and understanding editor, but also a perceptive
guide and a constructive critic throughout. Colleagues from all
around the world, notably Erica Benner, Craig Calhoun, John A.
Hall, Fred Halliday, Michael Hechter, John Hutchinson, Spyros A.
Sofos, Nira Yuval-Davis and the anonymous Palgrave Macmillan
reviewer, have been extremely generous with their time, and read
the initial draft of the manuscript, helping me to improve it in ways
that I could not even imagine. lowe special thanks to Seda Yiiksel
x
xi
--_._._-_.
xii Preface
and Erollilker for going through the whole text at a later stage .and 1
alerting me to the needs of my potential readership. In a
more personal vein, I must thank Sema and Can Yiiksel, and the
memhers of the Ann family, especially the late Suha Ann who. took Introduction
a personal interest in seeing this hook completed, for offering much
valuahle support when it mattered most. I must also thank my
friends in London, my sanctuary, in particular Spyros, Roza, Can,
Ayhige and Burcu, for their companionship and, more importantly,
for reminding me that the Laistrygonians and the Cyclops are in
fact in my soul. I am particularly grateful to a friend of mine who
fought these imaginary giants alongside me, even when they proved
to he invincihle - the road to Ithaca is indeed long and arduous, hut
I shall get there, I give you my word on it. Finally, my mother and
father, the perpetual sources of the fine emotion that touches my The nationalists have no country. This is not just an eccentric
spirit and my hody ... Thank you for all the good things you have attempt to capture the reader's attention by. turning a famous
done, most importantly for the 'hope' you have implanted in me. I aphorism on its head. Paradoxical and puzzling as it may seem, this
shall do my hest to live up to it. pithy statement encapsulates two important insights on nationa
I completed the final draft of this hook on 14 January 2005. A lism, which have provided the impetus for this book.
week later, on 22 January, my father, the literary historian and The first insight concerns the disparity hetween the claims to
writer Atilla Ozkmmh, passed away, leaving hehind more than 20 nationhood and the realities on the ground, and tells us that the
hooks, an encyclopaedia and hundreds of students whom he idea of a 'pure', homogeneous nation is a fiction. Homogeneity may
helped to find their own Ithacas. As for me, the road has only indeed be the nationalist's ultimate dream, as Ernest Gellner's
become longer and more arduous ... famous definition of nationalism as 'a political doctrine which holds
that the political and national unit should be congruent' reminds
us (1983: I). Yet such correspondence has heen an aberration, not
a constant, in human history. Rulers of most premodern societies
The author wishes to thank Ted R. Gurr, Monty Marshall and the did not share the norms of those over whom they ruled; 'and, typ
Center for International Development and Conflict Management ically, there were several sets of norms, given the presence of many
for granting pennission to reproduce copyright material from and varied ethnic groups within most territories' (Hall 2003: 16).
Peace and Conflict 2003: A Global Survey of Armed Conflicts, Self The idea of a pure, homogeneous nation continues to be a decep
Determination Movements, and Democracy; and Co§kun Aral for tive and dangerous fiction in the motlern world, where no state is a
permission to use material from his Sozun Bittiii;i Yer on the jacket. nation in the sense in which nationalists use the term. Ethnic and
Every effort has heen made to trace all the copyright-holders, cultural pluralism continues to be the nonn, and the content and
hut if any have been inadvertently overlooked, the publishers boundaries of the nation are ceaselessly contested by those who are
will be pleased to make the necessary arrangement at the first not considered to be, and in most cases do not consider themselves
opportunity. to be, part of the officially defined nation. In short, national homo
geneity, in the sense of a complete congruence between national
and political units, has always been a pipe-dream.
The second inSight, on the other hand, draws OUf attention to
what unites various nationalisms, rather than what divides them.
1
2 Contemptrrary Debates on Nationalism
Introduction 3
We have already seen that we should think of nationalism in the The revival of interest in nationalism has been prompted by the
plural or as a site where different constructions of the nation convergence of a number of trends in world politics. Chief among
contest and negotiate with each other. What unites these different these is the proliferation of ethnic conflicts in many parts of the
views is a particular language, a cluster of claims that are commonly world in the wake of the euphoria of 1989. As Marshall and Gurr
ma~e in describing nations. Nationalism is in this sense a form of remark in Peace and Conflict 2003, the biennial report of the Center
discourse, a way of seeing and interpreting the world. The dis for International Development and Conflict Management (home
course of nationalism asserts that humanity is divided into distinct to the Minorities at Risk Project), ethnonational wars for inde
nations, each with its own separate past, present and destiny. pendence are commonly considered to be the main threat to inter
Human beings can only fulfill themselves if they belong to a national peace and regional security in the post-Cold War period.
national community, the membership of which remains superior The report documents 70 armed conflicts for autonomy or inde
to all other fonns of belonging - familial, gender, class, religious, pendence waged by territorially concentrated ethnic groups since
regional, and so on (Suny 200la, 2001b). The discourse of nation the 1950s, without counting the peoples of former European
alism is also universalist (in theory, if not in practice): it presup colonies. These conflicts, the report informs us, spiked sharply
poses a system of nation-states in which each nation has a right to upward at the end of the Cold War, from five ongoing wars in the
self:'determination. All nationalisms, however varied their internal 1950s to a maximum of 48 in 1991 (see Table 1.1). Yet the report
nature, draw on this common frame of reference to make their also notes that the number of these conflicts has declined even
demands (Calhoun 1993, 1997). In other words, the discourse of more precipitously, to 22 ongoing conflicts as of the beginning of
nationalism is what defines diverse movements, ideologies and 2003, a smaller number than any time in the last quarter-century.
policies as 'nationalisms', What is more, fighting in most of these conflicts is low-level and
Combined, these two insights show us that nationalisms are de-escalating - thanks to a marked increase in local, regional and
not as internally homogeneous and externally heterogeneous as international efforts to contain or settle wars of self-determination.
nationalists would have us believe. The 'immaculate nation' of the
nationalists has never existed: the nationalists have no country as
Table 1.1 Armed conflicts for self-determination and their
they know it! outcomes, 1956-2002
Period New Ongoing Conflicts Conflicts
armed at end of contained settled or
Context
conflicts Period won
The idea of a homogeneous and unique nation may well be a Before 1956 4
o o
fiction of the nationalists; yet as a .frame of reference and a prin 1956-60 4 8
o
1961-65 5 12 1
ciple of social and political organization, nationalism is ubiquitous. o
1966-70 5 15 2
Given that, it is striking that nations and nationalism have been a o
1971-75 11 23 3
peripheral concern of social and political theory for much of the 1976-80 10 31 2 o
o
twentieth century. It is only in the last two decades that the acad 1981-85 5 35 1
emia has emerged from its long slumber and begun to explore 1986-90 10 41 2 2
1991-95 16 39 7 11
nationalism and its paraphernalia. The upshot of this belated inter
1996-2000 2 28 7 6
est has been an avalanche of books arid articles,on nationalism, the o
2001-2002 3 22 9
publication of a number of specialized academic journals and
TOTAL 72 29 24
the establishment of research centers, institutes and degree pro
grammes in various universities across the world.
Source: Marshall and GUff 2003: 30
i;iikent
Universt~
Ubrarv
4 Contemplffary Debates on Nationalism Introduction 5
In short, the real picture is more complicated than the everyday immigrants, evidenced by the startling electoral successes of a
media cliches would have uS believe. string of radical nationalist parties in many European countries
There are two reasons for this. The first is what Brubaker and (see Table 1.2). Billig's observation is valid here as well: most ana
Laitin call a 'coding bias' in the ethnic direction. Noting that the lysts in the West explain the sharp increase in ultranationalist votes
actual instances of ethnic and nationalist violence remain rare by the tendency of voters to perceive the ever-growing number of
measured against the universe of possible instances, they draw our immigrants as the source of the social and economic ills that
attention to the impact of prevailing interpretive frames. Today, bedevil them, thus turning a blind eye to the myriad ways in which
they argue, 'the ethnic frame is immediately and widely available nationalism is reproduced. In fact, for them, immigrants are the
and legitimate; it imposes itself on, or at least suggests itself 'usual suspects' even in the case of mounting ethnic unrest, a ten
to, actors and analysts alike'. This generates the coding bias in dency Appadurai wittily calls 'the germ theory of ethnic strife' . This
question: theory takes Western democracies to be fundamentally mature and
civilized, but now at risk as they have become host to populations,
Today, we ... are no longer blind to ethnicity, but we may be typically from the Third World, that carry the primordial bug - 'the
blinded by it. Our ethnic bias in framing may lead us to over bug, that is, that makes them attached in infantile ways to blood,
estimate the incidence ofe thnic violence by unjustifiably seeing language, religion, and memory and makes them violence-prone
ethnicity at work everywhere and thereby artifactually multiply and ill-equipped for participation in mature civic societies'
ing instances of 'ethnic-violence'. More soberingly, since coding (Appadurai 1996: 143).
or framing is partly constitutive of the phenomenon of ethnic We might add to this the terror and violence caused by the col
violence, not simply an external way of registering and coming lision between various ethnoreligious movements and a bellicose
to terms with it intellectually, our coding bias may actually American nationalism (see Juergensmeyer 2002 and Lieven 2004)
increase the incidence ... of ethnic violence. (Brubaker and
Laitin 1998: 428)
Table 1.2 Electoral results of radical nationalist parties in national
parliamentalY elections in Europe, 1996-,2003
The second factor complicating the picture concerns the prevail
ing tendency to locate nationalism on the periphery, seen by many
1996-,99 2000-2003
as the seedbed of atavistic feelings and primordial hostilities.
Nationalism, in this view, becomes the property of 'others', not of Votes (%) Seats Votes (%) Seats
'us'. 'Our' nationalism is 'patriotism', a benign and necessary
National Alliance, 15.7 93 12 99
force, a kind of battery capable of storing power for future use
Italy
without needing to be active all the time. Yet, as Billig maintains, Pim Fortuyn's List, 17 26
this accepted use-of the word 'nationalism' is misleading, as it over The Netherlands
looks the nationalism of the established nations where there is a Freedom Party, 26.9 52 10 18
continual 'flagging', or reminding, of nationhood. 'Nationhood Austria
Flemish Block, 9.9 15 11.6 18
provides a continual background for their political discourses, for
Belgium
cultural products, and even for the structuring of newspapers' Progress Party, 15.3 25 14.7 26
(1995: 8; for the image of 'battery' see Canovan 1996: 3). Norway
This takes 11S to the second major trend of the post-Cold War National Front, 14.9 1 11.3
period, namely the revival of nationalism in the Western world. France
Danish People's 7.4 13 12 22
This may take not only the form of separatism and regionalism as
Party, Denmark
mentioned above, but also of increasing xenophobia against
6 Contemporary Debates on Nationalism Introduction 7
- what Tariq Ali (2002) calls 'the clash of fundamentalisms' - and As for globalization, it is now well-established that the relation
we have the big picture: a global kingdom where nationalism ship between nationalism and processes of globalization is not a
e'\ioys untrammelled sovereignty. zero-sum game (see for example Waters 1995; Holton 1998; Held
No account of the contemporary political! cultural landscape et al. 1999; Scholte 2000). Globalization not only undermines, but
would be complete, however, without mentioning two other also reinforces, nationalism both by provoking nationalist re
trends, hailed by many as insurgent forces that undermine the actions and by facilitating (different types of) nation-formation
global reign of nationalism, namely globalization and identity pol (Hutchinson 2003; Guibernau 2001; Held 1996). More impor
itics. The story is a familiar one: the nation-state is besieged from tantly, as Sassen notes, 'the global does not (yet) fully encompass
on top by the growing interdependence of the planet and from the lived experience of actors or the domain of institutional orders
below by the rediscovery of long-forgotten cultural (read sub and cultural formations; it persists as a partial condition'. However,
national) identities, These two counter-trends are mutually rein continues Sassen, this 'should not suggest that the global and the
forcing, with globalization both provoking and facilitating identity national are discrete conditions that mutually exclude each other.
politics, and identity politics encouraging the growth of trans To the contrary, they significantly overlap and interact in ways that
national solidarities. Thus we live in a postmodern world, a world distinguish our contemporary moment' (2000: 215).
in which we are all strangers (Bauman 1998, Kristeva 1993). This Finally, diasporas may be transnational in the sense of extend
has led to the crystallization of new forms of identity and commu ing across state borders, but they usually insist on being nations of
nity, mostly in the absence of territorial bases. Diasporas are the a sort themselves (Goldmann et al. 2000: 12). Diasporas have been
emblems of such formations, or in the words of T6161yan, 'the very active in the generation of nationalist ideas and movements,
exemplary communities of the transnational moment' (1996: 428). and continue to be active participants of ethnic and national con
It may be too premature to write an obituary to the nationality flicts in the 'homeland' - leading Benedict Anderson to coin the
principle, but it no longer constitutes the only, or the most impor term 'long-distance nationalism' (1998: chapter 3; see also
tant, form of belonging as it did for most of the twentieth century. Yuval-Davis 2003: 139-41). Hence the picture of diasporas as 'the
This story may be suggestive at first glance, but it needs to be exemplary communities of the transnational moment' is at best a
qualified in important ways. It is indeed true that one of the dis partial one.
tinctive features of our time is the demand by various groups for To sum up, contemporary trends in world politics make it clear
the political recognition of their distinct identities. The opportu that it is too early to write nationalism off as an outdated form of
nities provided by globalization, notably increasing geographical consciousness. Whether we like it or not, 'being national is the con
mobility and dramatic advances in media and communication dition of our times', as Eley and Suny remark in the Introduction
technologies, make it easier for members of minority cultures to to their 1996 reader, and the need to understand nationalism is
keep in touch with each other and their home countries, hence to more pressing than ever.
resist assimilation and mobilize for greater public recognition.
However, it is not clear why this should be seen as a threat to
nationalism. Most of the demands for cultural recognition are also Alms
instances of nationalism, perhaps on a smaller scale, and stripped
of the territorial component. The culture that needs to be recog Very broadly, this book aims to critically engage with the fast
nized is in most cases an 'ethnic' or 'national' one. Hence demands growing theoretical and normative literature on nationalism in
for public recognition of cultural distinctiveness may be a threat order to make better sense of the challenges it poses at the onset
to majority nationalism, but certainly not to nationalism per se, as of a new century. More specifically, it has three objectives: to offer
the groups that seek recognition draw on the same discourse to a critical overview of the contemporary debates on nationalism; to
frame their demands. sketch the contours of a theoretical and normative approach that
8 Contemporary Debates on Nationalism Introduction 9
would enable us to question the claims of nationalism; and to discussion of nationalism in the field of political theory, on the
identify and discuss some of the alternatives to nationalism. Three other hand, is exactly the opposite: they are, for the most part,
interconnected claims will guide my analysis of these issues. impervious to the insights of contemporary debates in sociology
First, neither nationalism nor its widespread emotional. appeal and political science. I shall cross over this disciplinary divide and
should be taken for granted, but problematized and studied complement my theoretical analysis with an evaluation of the
carefully. I shall argue that this could best be done through a normative claims of nationalism, thereby bridging the gap between
'social constructionist' approach which enables us to identify the the two literatures.
contingent, heterogeneous and shifting nature of nations, thus Third, we need to adopt a critical stance towards the existing
sensitizing us to the central role of reproduction in sustaining nation-state order. Many of the problems that bave preoccupied
nationalisms. Such an approach contributes to our understanding thinkers and activists of all political persuasions for centuries are
of nationalism in four concrete ways: still with us, be it economic inequalities, wars or intolerance. The
track record of nationalism in solving these multifarious problems
• It helps us to unearth the historical nature of nationalism has not been terribly encouraging. It is thus reasonable to believe
and produce a theoretical account of the social and political that without a radical rethinking of the system of nation-states
processes- through which national identities are constructed, and a careful consideration of its alternatives, we shall not make
sustained and contested. headway in solving the problems humanity continues to face. This
• It allows us to discover which interests are secured in and by is all the more important in today's highly globalized world, where
particular constructions of nationhood. the successful resolution of the most urgent problems requires a
• It alerts us to the waxing and waning nature of nationhood, greater level of international cooperation.
thereby enabling us to assess the degree of success of particu' Some of the specific questions I shall address in this context are:
lar nation-making projects.
• It increases our sensitivity to the institutional and discursive • What is nationalism? What are the different types of nationalism?
mechanisms through which nationalisms are maintained, and • Where does the theoretical debate on nationalism stand today?
just as importantly, resisted or challenged. What are some of the issues that continue to bedevil the theory
of nationalism?
Second, nationalism cannot be understood properly without • How can we best make sense of nationalism? What kind of
taking its normative dimension into account. There are two rather approach could enable us to engage critically with appeals to
obvious reasons for this. First, as a quarter century of feminist, post nationhood?
structuralist and postmodernist theorizing has made it all the more • What are the normative claims of nationalism? What is 'national
clear, our analyses are intimately tied up with our current political partiality'? Is national partiality compatible with prinCiples of
concerns and normative judgements - and this is nowhere more universal justice and equality?
true than in the case of nationalism. More importantly, however, • Are nations moral communities? What are the problems with
nationalism is itself a normative principle, or an ethical doctrine; the project of rehabilitating nationalism?
it states a view about how the world should be organized. Yet very • Is it possible to talk of 'good' and 'bad' nationalisms? What is
few of the existing sociologic.al accounts of nationalism engage 'liberal nationalism'? Can the liberal nationalist model work?
with its normative dimension, leaving this to political theorists and • What is the relationship between multiculturalism and nation
philosophers. This is equally true of the classics of nationalism alism? Can multiculturalism offer an alternative to nationalism?
studies and of the growing number of readers and introductions What are the chances for constructive dialogue between dif
to the field (see Spencer and Wollman 2002 and Day and ferent cultures?
Thompson 2004 for partial exceptions). The problem with much • What are the implications of the processes of globalization for