Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, it tends to promote the interests of a particular nation, especially with the aim of gaining and maintaining the nation's sovereignty (self-governance) over its homeland to create a nation-state. It holds that each nation should govern itself, free from outside interference (self-determination), that a nation is a natural and ideal basis for a polity, and that the nation is the only rightful source of political power. It further aims to build and maintain a single national identity, based on a combination of shared social characteristics such as culture, ethnicity, geographic location, language, politics, religion, traditions and belief in a shared singular history, and to promote national unity or solidarity. Nationalism, therefore, seeks to preserve and foster a nation's traditional culture. There are various definitions of a "nation", which leads to different types of nationalism. The two main divergent forms are ethnic nationalism and civic nationalism.
Benedict Richard O'Gorman Anderson was an Anglo-Irish political scientist and historian who lived and taught in the United States. Anderson is best known for his 1983 book Imagined Communities, which explored the origins of nationalism. A polyglot with an interest in Southeast Asia, he was the Aaron L. Binenkorb Professor of International Studies, Government & Asian Studies at Cornell University. His work on the "Cornell Paper", which disputed the official story of Indonesia's 30 September Movement and the subsequent anti-Communist purges of 1965–1966, led to his expulsion from that country. Benedict Anderson was the elder brother of the historian Perry Anderson.
Shakib Arslan was a Druze prince (amir) in Lebanon, known as Amir al-Bayān because, in addition to being a politician, he was also an influential writer, poet and historian. A prolific writer, he produced some 20 books and 2,000 articles, as well as two collections of poetry and a "prodigious correspondence".
The Istiqlal Party is a political party in Morocco. It is a conservative and monarchist party and a member of the Centrist Democrat International and International Democrat Union. Istiqlal headed a coalition government under Abbas El Fassi from 19 September 2007 to 29 November 2011. From 2013 to 2021, it was part of the opposition. Since 2021 it is part of a coalition government led by Aziz Akhannouch.
French Africa includes all the historic holdings of France on the African continent.
Amadou Lamine-Guèye was a Senegalese politician who became leader of the Parti Sénégalais de l'Action Socialiste. In 1945 he and his associate, Léopold Sédar Senghor, were elected to represent Senegal in the French National Assembly. Gueye was also elected to the French Senate in 1958.
Ronald Grigor Suny is an American historian and political scientist. Suny is the William H. Sewell Jr. Distinguished University Professor of History at the University of Michigan and served as director of the Eisenberg Institute for Historical Studies, 2009 to 2012 and was the Charles Tilly Collegiate Professor of Social and Political History at the University of Michigan from 2005 to 2015, and is Emeritus Professor of political science and history at the University of Chicago.
Abdelkhalek Torres was a Moroccan journalist and nationalist leader based in Tetouan, Morocco during the Spanish protectorate of Morocco era.
Mohammed Daoud (1901-1984) was a Moroccan writer and historian. He was a major nationalist in northern Morocco during its struggle for independence from occupation by Spanish forces.
Louis Sanmarco was a French colonial administrator of Italian origin. He served as the governor of the colony of Ubangi-Shari from 1954 until 1957, and served as Governor of Gabon from 29 January 1958 to 28 November 1958. As Governor of Gabon, he pushed for the incorporation of Gabon into France as an overseas department. He then served as High Commissioner of Gabon from 1958 to 1959. He was born in Martigues and died in Paris.
Philippe C. Schmitter is an American political scientist specializing in comparative politics. He is Emeritus Professor of the Department of Political and Social Sciences at the European University Institute.
Christophe Jaffrelot is a French political scientist and Indologist specialising in South Asia, particularly India and Pakistan. He is a professor of South Asian politics and history the Centre d'études et de recherches internationales (CERI) at Sciences Po (Paris), a professor of Indian Politics and Sociology at the King's India Institute (London), and a Research Director at the Centre national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS).
The Jonnart Law was the culmination of Governor General Charles Jonnart's reform program for French Algeria, passed on 4 February 1919. Although it increased the number of Algerian Muslims eligible to vote for the Muslim members of municipal councils to approximately 425,000, and gave approximately 100,000 the right to vote for members of the departmental councils and the Financial Delegations, it was greatly watered down from the original proposals of 1917. Proposals such as the creation of a joint European and Muslim council in Paris were abandoned entirely. The law was controversial, with colons believing that too much had been given to the Algerians and the Algerians largely believing it to be insufficient recognition from a country for which they had fought and died during the First World War.
Lauren Benton is an American historian known for her works on the global history of empires, colonial and imperial law, and the history of international law. She is Barton M. Biggs Professor of History and Professor of Law at Yale University.
Saheed Aderinto is a Nigerian-American Professor of History and African and African Diaspora Studies at Florida International University and an award-winning author. He is the Founding President of the Lagos Studies Association. In February 2023, Aderinto received the $300,000 Dan David Prize–the largest financial reward for excellence in the historical discipline in the world. He has published eight books, thirty-six journal articles and book chapters, forty encyclopedia articles, and twenty book reviews.
Imperial Rule and the Politics of Nationalism: Anti-Colonial Protest in the French Empire is a book-length study of national independence from the French colonial empire by Adria Lawrence.
Mary Elise Sarotte is a post-Cold War historian. She is the Marie-Josée and Henry R. Kravis Distinguished Professor of Historical Studies at the Henry A. Kissinger Center for Global Affairs, which is part of Johns Hopkins University.
David D. Laitin is the James T. Watkins IV and Elise V. Watkins Professor of Political Science in the School of Humanities and Science at Stanford University. He is a comparative politics scholar who has written works on civil war, ethnic identity, culture and nationalism. He is known for his application of rational choice to the study of ethnic conflict, and for bridging a gap between ethnography and rational choice.
Abdesalam Bennuna was a Moroccan man of letters. He is described as the "father of Moroccan nationalism."
Modernization theory is the predominant explanation for emergence of nationalism among scholars of nationalism. Prominent modernization scholars, such as Ernest Gellner, Benedict Anderson and Eric Hobsbawn, say nationalism arose with modernization during the late 18th century. Processes that lead to the emergence of nationalism include industrialization and democratic revolutions.
