Ethnic nationalism

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Ethnic nationalism, also known as ethnonationalism, [1] is a form of nationalism wherein the nation and nationality are defined in terms of ethnicity, [2] [3] with emphasis on an ethnocentric (and in some cases an ethnocratic) approach to various political issues related to national affirmation of a particular ethnic group. [4] [5]

Contents

The central tenet of ethnic nationalists is that "nations are defined by a shared heritage, which usually includes a common language, a common faith, and a common ethnic ancestry". [6] Those of other ethnicities may be classified as second-class citizens. [7] [8]

Diaspora-studies scholars broaden the concept of "nation" to diasporic communities. The terms "ethnonation" and "ethnonationalism" are sometimes used to describe a conceptual collective of dispersed ethnics. [9] Defining an ethnos widely can lead to ethnic nationalism becoming a form of pan-nationalism or macronationalism, as in cases such as pan-Germanism or pan-Slavism. [10]

In scholarly literature, ethnic nationalism is usually contrasted with civic nationalism, although this distinction has also been criticized. [11] [12] [13] Ethnic nationalism is traditionally the determinant type of nationalism in Eastern Europe. [14]

Conceptual development

History

The study of ethnonationalism emerged in the early 20th century in the interwar period between World War I and World War II, with the "redrawing of the political map of Europe in part along ethnic and national lines according to a proclaimed “right of peoples” to self-determination and the rise of fascist ethnocentric ideologies (including Nazism). [15] Philosopher Hans Kohn was one of the first to differentiate ethnic nationalism from civic nationalism in his 1944 publication The Idea of Nationalism: A Study in Its Origins and Background . [16]

During the Cold War, the independence movement initiated in former European colonies in Asia and Africa reinvigorated research into ethnic, tribal and national identities and the "political difficulties" stemming from their interactions with territorial statehood, [15] while the collapse of the Soviet Union in the 1980s and 1990s and the "resurgence of ethnic and national claims and conflicts in its aftermath" only further spurred ethnonationalism scholarship in the late 20th century. [15]

Increased international migration as a function of contemporary globalization has also given rise to "ethno-national" movements, including reactionary "nativist" groups focused on exclusionary identity politics. In the developed world, such trends have often taken on an explicitly xenophobic and racist character, as seen in the example of "white nationalism" in the United States. [15]

Characteristics

The central political tenet of ethnic nationalism is that ethnic groups are entitled to self-determination.[ citation needed ] The outcome of this right to self-determination may vary, from calls for self-regulated administrative bodies within an already established society, to an autonomous entity separate from that society, to the institution of ethnic federalism within a multi-ethnic society, to establishing an independent sovereign state removed from that society. In international relations, it also leads to policies and movements for irredentism to claim a common nation based upon ethnicity,[ citation needed ] or for the establishment of an ethnocratic (mono-ethnocratic or poly-ethnocratic) political structure in which the state apparatus is controlled by a politically and militarily dominant ethnic nationalist group or a group of several ethnic nationalist groups from select ethnicities to further its interests, power and resources. [17]

In scholarly literature, ethnic nationalism is usually contrasted with civic nationalism. Ethnic nationalism bases membership of the nation on descent or heredity, often articulated in terms of common blood or kinship, rather than on political membership. Hence, nation states with strong traditions of ethnic nationalism tend to define nationality or citizenship by jus sanguinis (the law of blood, descent from a person of that nationality), and countries with strong traditions of civic nationalism tend to define nationality or citizenship by jus soli (the law of soil, birth within the nation state). Ethnic nationalism is, therefore, seen as exclusive,[ by whom? ] while civic nationalism tends to be inclusive.[ according to whom? ] Rather than allegiance to common civic ideals and cultural traditions, then, ethnic nationalism tends to emphasise narratives of common descent.[ citation needed ]

Some types of ethnic nationalism are firmly rooted in the idea of ethnicity as an inherited characteristic, for example black nationalism or white nationalism, often ethnic nationalism also manifests in the assimilation of minority ethnic groups into the dominant group, for example as with Italianisation. This assimilation may or may not be predicated on a belief in some common ancestry with assimilated groups (for example with Germanisation in the Second World war). An extreme version is racial nationalism.[ citation needed ]

Recent theories and empirical data suggest that people maintain dual lay beliefs about nationality, such that it can be both inherited biologically at birth and acquired culturally in life. [18]

Role in discrimination

In 2018, Tendayi Achiume, a UN Special Rapporteur on racism, released a UN Human Rights Council report which states that "more than 75% of the world's known stateless populations belong to minority groups" and highlights the role of ethnonationalism in the international deprivation of citizenship rights. [19] In the report, Achiume re-stated that international human rights law prohibits citizens from discriminating against non-citizens on the basis of their race, descent, national or ethnic origin and she also stated that citizenship, nationality, and immigration laws which discriminate against non-citizens are violations of international law. [19] She also noted the role of laws restricting marriage rights with respect to certain national, religious, ethnic or racial groups, which she said were "often deployed by states to preserve notions of national, ethnic and racial "purity"." [19] Achiume called ethnonationalist politics the "most obvious driver of racial discrimination in citizenship and immigration laws" and driven by populist leaders defining nations "in terms of assumed blood ties and ethnicity". [19]

In the 19th and 20th centuries, European colonial powers used ethnonationalism to justify barring colonial subjects from citizenship, and in Europe, Jews and Roma were excluded from citizenship on the same grounds. [19] Today, migrants are a frequent target of ethnonationalist rhetoric related to "ethnic purity and religious, cultural or linguistic preservation". [19] Even countries with proud histories of immigration have fallen prey to the vilification of "certain racial, religious and national groups" on prejudicial grounds. Achiume called the case of the Rohingya Muslims a "chilling example", with the Burma Citizenship Act of 1982 discriminating based on ethnicity and rendering many Rohingya stateless. [19] The violation of the rights of Afro-Caribbean British citizens from the "Windrush generation" is a pertinent example of similar prejudice in the developed world but states all over the world use misinformation to portray "certain racial, national and religious groups as inherent threats to national security" and justify stripping or denying rights. [19]

Extreme forms of ethnic nationalism, as in the case of Myanmar and its government's persecution of the Rohingya, have been identified as causes of various genocides and episodes of ethnic cleansing. [20] [21] [22] In his 2005 book The Great Game of Genocide , historian Donald Bloxham argued that the Armenian genocide "represents a clear logic of ethnic nationalism when it is carried to its absolute extreme in multinational societies". [23]

Contemporary examples

In the context of the Mapuche conflict, the Coordinadora Arauco-Malleco (CAM) presents a strictly ethno-nationalist demand. Matias Catrileo cartel protesta.jpg
In the context of the Mapuche conflict, the Coordinadora Arauco-Malleco (CAM) presents a strictly ethno-nationalist demand.

Ethnic nationalism is present in many states' immigration policies in the form of repatriation laws. Armenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Serbia and Turkey provide automatic or rapid citizenship to members of diasporas of their predominant ethnic group, if desired. [6] : 33 

Malaysia

In Malaysia, the Bumiputera principle recognises the "special position" of the Malays provided in the Constitution of Malaysia, in particular Article 153. However, the constitution does not use the term bumiputra; it defines only "Malay" and "indigenous peoples" (Article 160(2)), [25] "natives" of Sarawak (161A(6)(a)), [26] and "natives" of Sabah (Article 161A(6) (b)). [26] Some pro-Bumiputra policies exist as affirmative action for bumiputras since the Malaysian New Economic Policy is based on race, not deprivation. For instance, all Bumiputra, regardless of their financial standing, are entitled to a 7 percent discount on houses or property, including luxurious units, but low-income non-Bumiputra receives no such financial assistance. Other preferential policies include quotas for admission to government educational institutions, qualifications for public scholarships, marking of universities exam papers, special classes prior to university's end of term exams, positions in government and ownership of businesses. Most of the policies were established in the 1970s. Many policies focus on trying to achieve a Bumiputra share of corporate equity of at least 30% of the total. Ismail Abdul Rahman proposed that target after the government was unable to agree on a suitable policy goal.

United States

Since the 2016 US presidential election, ethnonationalism has been pushed to the fore of the American political consciousness by the identity politics of Donald Trump surrounding what it means to be a "true" American, which has resulted in ethnocentric ideals becoming "a robust predictor of vote choice for Trump" among white Americans. [27]

Data from the 2016 American National Election Studies (ANES) has revealed a positive association between ethnonationalism and anti-immigrant attitudes among white Americans, whose opposition to immigration is "often grounded in fears of the threat that immigration poses to the robustness of America's national identity" that is shaped by the belief set concerning the traits of "true" Americans. [28]

See also

Related Research Articles

Citizenship is a membership and allegiance to a sovereign state.

Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation, especially with the aim of gaining and maintaining its sovereignty (self-governance) over its perceived 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 identified by scholars are ethnic nationalism and civic nationalism.

A nation is a large type of social organization where a collective identity, a national identity, has emerged from a combination of shared features across a given population, such as language, history, ethnicity, culture, territory or society. Some nations are constructed around ethnicity while others are bound by political constitutions.

Racism is discrimination and prejudice against people based on their race or ethnicity. Racism can be present in social actions, practices, or political systems that support the expression of prejudice or aversion in discriminatory practices. The ideology underlying racist practices often assumes that humans can be subdivided into distinct groups that are different in their social behavior and innate capacities and that can be ranked as inferior or superior. Racist ideology can become manifest in many aspects of social life. Associated social actions may include nativism, xenophobia, otherness, segregation, hierarchical ranking, supremacism, and related social phenomena.

An ethnicity or ethnic group is a grouping of people who identify with each other on the basis of perceived shared attributes that distinguish them from other groups. Those attributes can include a common nation of origin, or common sets of ancestry, traditions, language, history, society, religion, or social treatment. The term ethnicity is often used interchangeably with the term nation, particularly in cases of ethnic nationalism.

Monoculturalism is the policy or process of supporting, advocating, or allowing the expression of the culture of a single social or ethnic group. It generally stems from beliefs within the dominant group that their cultural practices are superior to those of minority groups and is often related to the concept of ethnocentrism, which involves judging another culture based on the values and standards of one's own culture, though this is usually untrue if cultural nationalism is dominant, as opposed to ethno-nationalism. It may also involve the process of assimilation whereby other ethnic groups are expected to adopt the culture and practices of the dominant ethnic group. Monoculturalism, in the context of cultural diversity, is the opposite of multiculturalism.

Polyculturalism is an ideological approach to the consequences of intercultural engagements within a geographical area which emphasises similarities between, and the enduring interconnectedness of, groups which self-identify as distinct, thus blurring the boundaries which may be perceived by members of those groups.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ethnocide</span> Extermination of a culture

Ethnocide is the extermination or destruction of cultures.

An ethnocracy is a type of political structure in which the state apparatus is controlled by a dominant ethnic group to further its interests, power, dominance, and resources. Ethnocratic regimes in the modern era typically display a 'thin' democratic façade covering a more profound ethnic structure, in which ethnicity – and not citizenship – is the key to securing power and resources.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National identity</span> Identity or sense of belonging to one state or one nation

National identity is a person's identity or sense of belonging to one or more states or one or more nations. It is the sense of "a nation as a cohesive whole, as represented by distinctive traditions, culture, and language". National identity may refer to the subjective feeling one shares with a group of people about a nation, regardless of one's legal citizenship status. National identity is viewed in psychological terms as "an awareness of difference", a "feeling and recognition of 'we' and 'they'". National identity also includes the general population and diaspora of multi-ethnic states and societies that have a shared sense of common identity identical to that of a nation while being made up of several component ethnic groups. Hyphenated ethnicities are examples of the confluence of multiple ethnic and national identities within a single person or entity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nichifor Crainic</span> Romanian writer

Nichifor Crainic was a Romanian writer, editor, philosopher, poet and theologian famed for his traditionalist activities. Crainic was also a professor of theology at the Bucharest Theological Seminary and the Chișinău Faculty of Theology. He was an important racist ideologue, and a far-right politician. He was one of the main Romanian fascist and antisemitic ideologues.

Ethnopluralism or ethno-pluralism, also known as ethno-differentialism, is a political concept which relies on preserving and mutually respecting separate and bordered ethno-cultural regions. Among the key components are the "right to difference" and a strong support for cultural diversity at a worldwide rather than at a national level. According to its promoters, significant foreign cultural elements in a given region ought to be culturally assimilated to seek cultural homogenization in this territory, in order to let different cultures thrive in their respective geographical areas.

Civic nationalism, otherwise known as democratic nationalism and liberal nationalism, is a form of nationalism that adheres to traditional liberal values of freedom, tolerance, equality, and individual rights, and is not based on ethnocentrism. Civic nationalists often defend the value of national identity by saying that individuals need it as a partial shared aspect of their identity in order to lead meaningful, autonomous lives and that democratic polities need a national identity to function properly.

Racial nationalism is an ideology that advocates a racial definition of national identity. Racial nationalism seeks to preserve "racial purity" of a nation through policies such as banning race mixing and the immigration of other races. In order to create a justification for such policies, racial nationalism often promotes eugenics, and advocates political and legislative solutions based on eugenic and other racial theories.

Ethnic democracy is a political system that combines a structured ethnic dominance with democratic, political and civil rights for all. Both the dominant ethnic group and the minority ethnic groups have citizenship and are able to fully participate in the political process. Ethnic democracy differs from ethnocracy in that elements of it are more purely democratic. It provides the non-core groups with more political participation, influence and improvement of status than ethnocracy supposedly does. Nor is an ethnic democracy a Herrenvolk democracy which is by definition a democracy officially limited to the core ethnic nation only.

Among scholars of nationalism, a number of types of nationalism have been presented. Nationalism may manifest itself as part of official state ideology or as a popular non-state movement and may be expressed along civic, ethnic, language, religious or ideological lines. These self-definitions of the nation are used to classify types of nationalism, but such categories are not mutually exclusive and many nationalist movements combine some or all of these elements to varying degrees. Nationalist movements can also be classified by other criteria, such as scale and location.

Territorial nationalism describes a form of nationalism based on the belief that all inhabitants of a particular territory should share a common national identity, regardless of their ethnic, linguistic, religious, cultural and other differences. Depending on the political or administrative status of a particular territory, territorial nationalism can be manifested on two basic levels, as territorial nationalism of distinctive sovereign states, or territorial nationalism of distinctive sub-sovereign regions.

A White ethnostate is a proposed type of state in which residence or citizenship would be limited to Whites, and non-whites and any other groups not seen as white would be excluded from citizenship. Within the Anglosphere, the natives of their respective countries would also be excluded from citizenship, such as the Indigenous people of the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Demographic engineering</span> Deliberate efforts to shift the ethnic balance of an area

Demographic engineering is deliberate effort to shift the ethnic balance of an area, especially when undertaken to create ethnically homogeneous populations. Demographic engineering ranges from falsification of census results, redrawing borders, differential natalism to change birth rates of certain population groups, targeting disfavored groups with voluntary or coerced emigration, and population transfer and resettlement with members of the favored group. At an extreme, demographic engineering is undertaken through genocide.

Discrimination based on nationality is discriminating against a person based on their nationality, country of citizenship, or national origin. Although many countries' non-discrimination laws contain exceptions for nationality and immigration status, nationality is related to race and religion, so direct discrimination on the basis of nationality may be indirect discrimination on racial or religious grounds. Discrimination "against any particular nationality" is prohibited by the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD).

References

  1. ↑ Leoussi 2001, p. 81-84.
  2. ↑ Smith 1987, p. 134-138, 144–149.
  3. ↑ Smith 2009, p. 61-80.
  4. ↑ Smith 1981, p. 18.
  5. ↑ Roshwald 2001.
  6. 1 2 Muller 2008.
  7. ↑ Rangelov 2013.
  8. ↑ Yilmaz 2018.
  9. ↑ Safran 2008.
  10. ↑ Snyder, Louis Leo (1984). Macro-nationalisms: A History of the Pan-movements. Issue 112 of Contributions in political science: Global perspectives in history and politics, ISSN 0147-1066. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press. ISBN   9780313231919 . Retrieved 2 December 2022.
  11. ↑ Yack, Bernard (1996). "The myth of the civic nation". Critical Review. 10 (2): 193–211. doi:10.1080/08913819608443417.
  12. ↑ Özkirimli, Umut. (2005). Contemporary Debates on Nationalism: A Critical Introduction. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
  13. ↑ Azurmendi, Joxe (2014): Historia, arraza, nazioa, Donostia: Elkar. ISBN   978-84-9027-297-8
  14. ↑ Andrea Friedli; Aline Gohard-Radenkovic; Francois Ruegg (2017). Nation-Building and Identities in Post-Soviet Societies: New Challenges for Social Sciences Volume 47 of Freiburg Studies in Social Anthropology/Freiburger Sozialanthropologische Studien Series Freiburg Studies in Social Anthropology/ Freiburger Sozialanthropologische Studien Volume 47 of Freiburger Sozialanthropologische Studien. LIT Verlag Münster. p. 75. ISBN   9783643802187.
  15. 1 2 3 4 Le Bossé 2021.
  16. ↑ Tamir, Yael (Yuli) (11 May 2019). "Not So Civic: Is There a Difference Between Ethnic and Civic Nationalism?". Annual Review of Political Science. 22 (1): 419–434. doi: 10.1146/annurev-polisci-022018-024059 . ISSN   1094-2939.
  17. ↑ Anderson 2016.
  18. ↑ Rad & Ginges 2018.
  19. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Ethno-nationalism denies millions their citizenship rights". Human Rights Council. 5 July 2018.
  20. ↑ Scherrer 1999.
  21. ↑ Smith 1994.
  22. ↑ Ahmed 1995.
  23. ↑ Bloxham 2005, p. 86.
  24. ↑ ""La lucha mapuche es nacionalista, anticapitalista y revolucionaria"". Nodo50. April 2002. Nuestra lucha por la independencia, por la autodeterminación es tomar el planteamiento histórico de nuestro pueblo para mantenerse y seguir siendo pueblo
  25. ↑ "Part XII: General and Miscellaneous, Constitution of Malaysia (Articles 152–160)", helplinelaw.com. Accessed 30 May 2007
  26. 1 2 Part XIIA: Additional Protections for States of Sabah and Sarawak, Constitution of Malaysia (Articles 161 – 161h), helplinelaw. Accessed 30 May 2007
  27. ↑ Thompson 2021.
  28. ↑ Thompson 2022.

Sources

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