Nations and Nationalisms

1. Nations and Nationalisms Introduction to Typologies/Groupism SEU2310

2. Typologies • Staatsnation/Kulturnation (F. Meinecke) • Western/Eastern (Hans Kohn) • Neo-orientalist • Civic/Ethnic • No less problematic • Other dichotomies: banal/manifest, liberal/illiberal, good/bad

3. Typologies (con’t)

4. Typologies (con’t) • Difficult to label as completely one or other • Proposed that the types are better used to classify certain elements, not whole states or movements • Civic nation not the triumph it appears to be • Political act to label states or movements as Civic or Ethnic • Ascribed legitimacy/illegitimacy, good/bad nature

5. Ambiguities of Types • What is “ethnic” about ethnic nationalism? • Ethnicity as descent or shared culture? • If we’re talking about shared culture, almost all nationalisms would be considered ethnic • Is the “civic” nation really a voluntaristic assoc of culturally unmarked individuals? • Then even France and USA can’t be examples • Anthony D. Smith: “myth, memories, values and symbols” characteristics of ethnic nation • Characteristics of civic as well?

6. Ambiguities of Types (con’t) • B. Anderson: language, not blood, as the most important aspect of nation • Can “ethnic” = “linguistic”? • All understandings of nationhood and nationalisms are both inclusive & exclusive • Civic, not more inclusive, differently inclusive (and exclusive) • Citizenship limited • Subscribers to political creed

7. Ambiguities of Types (con’t) • Voluntaristic Vs. Ascriptive also problematic • Civic not entirely voluntary • Ethnic not completely w/o choice • Chosenness and givenness are not strict oppositions • Choices are only meaningful in the context of possible choices on offer, and what those choices can mean

8. Typologies from Brubaker • Brubaker proposes another classification: “state-framed” vs “counter-state” • State-framed: state, not citizenship as focus ∴ not inherently civic (often with strong cultural content) • Counter-state: not necessarily ethnic; can be based on territory, privledges, distinct political history (may have civic qualities) • Nationalizing nationalisms • Polity-seeking/polity-upgrading nationalisms

9. Ethnicity without Groups • Groupism: taking “groups” for granted in the study of ethnicity, race, nationhood • Essentializing • Reifying • Basic constituents of social life • Most social theory sees groups as constructed, contingent, fluid • Relational approaches • Post Modern approaches • Yet, social groups continue to be understood as actors (esp. in instances of conflict)

10. Ethnicity without Groups (con’t) • Ethnic commonsense • Does ethnic conflict = conflict between ethnic groups? • Performative character of groups (Bourdieu): by invoking groups, ethno-political entrepreneurs summon them into being • Producing what you decribe

11. Beyond Groupism • Rethinking Ethnicity • Express groups in processual, dynamic terms • Nationalization as political, cultural, psychological process • Don’t take group as entity; look at groupness as variable • The Reality of Ethnicity • Not discounting the significance of ethnicity or nationhood; just imagining power and significane in a different way • People using these categories = real, meaningful • Things signified by categories = not necessarily real

12. Beyond Groupism (con’t) • Groupness as Event • Treating groupness as something that happens • Conversely, groupness may NOT happen • REMEMBER: negative instances can occur • Groups and Categories • Careful distinction between groups and categories • Problematize, not presume, relation between them • “How do people do things with these categories?”

13. Beyond Groupism (con’t) • Group Making as Project • Social, cultural, political project aimed at making categories into groups OR increasing levels of groupness • Dramatic events also galvanize group feeling • Groups and Organizations • Organization and individuals invested with authority as chief protagonists • Representativeness: degree to which org. can claim to represent the will and interests of its constituents/enjoy active or passive support → extremely variable

14. Beyond Groupism (con’t) • Framing and Coding • Framing does not just interpret violence as ethnic, it constitutes it as such • Power/relevance of nation/nationhood encourages people to categorize violence as national • Ethnicity as Cognition • Fundamental ways of perceiving the world • Classifications and categories that shape experience • “How are these frames constructed?”