Theories of Nationalism and Their Relationship with Racism - Essay Example

?The concept of nationalism was one of the most important political concepts of the 19th and 20th century (Mosse 2004); during this period, it was a crucial consideration in many of the global and regional conflicts especially with the emergence of globalization. Concisely, nationalism has been often been defined as a political ideology whose primary aim is to facilitate and increase the people’s political power, representation and influence within their respective nations. Historically, it has been postulated that nationalism emerged during upheavals such as the French revolution and others sparked off by citizenry in opposition to absolutism seeking to replace tradition monarchs as a sole source of political and legal authority. Around Europe, the Napoleonic armies who not only idealized it but also provoked nationalist reactions through their conquests spread the idea of the legitimacy of the nation as opposed to kingdom. Despite the restoration of traditional monarchs after napoleon’s defeat, the seeds of idea had already been sowed all over Europe and the next 50 years it precipitated outbreaks of violence in support for popular nationalism. There are two main theories that explain nationalism the perennialists who argue that nations, natural or otherwise owe their existence to the fact that humans have always lived in societies posit the first. The “natural” part is inspired by the fact that many nationalist legitimize their nations as natural by virtue of the fact that they have been in existence for centuries. The position of perennialists is that nationalism can be traced to cultural characteristics and the nature of the human landscape with throughout their particular histories; this takes to consideration every factor including those that are purely symbolic or even mythical. This argument was based on the existence of a number of large ethnic communities especially during the dark and middle ages that used the term nation to describe themselves. In this paper, the relationship between nationalism and racism will be examined with focus on the perennialist and modernist theories of nationalism; as well as the economic impacts and perception of two concepts on word nations. Racial consideration of nationalism was applied to ancient communities and civilizations such as the Egyptians Chinese, Indians and many others, under the perennial perception on nationalism the terms nation and race were interchangeable. Even later nations such as the British, German, and American were seen as races; this implied that the social political community was inherently tied up to a biological exclusiveness that was believed to transcend individuals in the different races. This perception was and still is conducive ground for the justification or racism and other forms of xenophobia such as Aryan supremacy; communities, especially financially powerful ones used the notion to discriminate others. Racism is loosely defined as the doctrine that assumes some races are superior to others in term of physical intellectual or moral and other aspects justifying right to dominate other “lesser” races and treat them in an undignified and unequal manner (Smith 1983). For instance, in Europe during the Elizabethan age, individuals of Jewish origin were openly discriminated even by the law; Jews were not allowed to engage in the convectional business activity. From such legal restrictions, popular stereotypes such as those of Jewish “shylocks” emerged, not because they were naturally predisposed to such activity but because they were compelled by legal restriction to practice usury. This is despite the fact that many Jews were born and grew up in Europe amongst the French and Italians, for instance, by modern consideration such people would have been considered European nationals. However, the assumption them was that one would always remain of the nation, in this case race, which they were born despite cultural and geopolitical translocation. Centuries later when such notions had been discounted by most of the civilized world, Adolf Hitler, through the Nazi party used ideas of Aryan Supremacy to instigate mass genocide of Jews in Germany. It is worth noting that many of the Jews who were victims of this had lived for generations in Germany and knew it as their homeland; however the Germans were convinced that by virtue of their not being biologically of the “German Race” they had no right to exist in the nation. Justifiably, these tribal and racial perceptions of nations came under severe attack after, and during the fall of fascism and the end of the World War II, there were overt predispositions by the scholars during this period to promote modern and liberal nationalism. The modernist position on nationalism is radically different as is defined by Benedict Anderson, as the concept of imagined political communities based on the reality of cultural perception by the nationals of the country and outsiders. One of the key proponents of the modernist theory was Ernest Gillnet he theorized that with modernity the west obliterated the traditional societies and in place of tribal and kinship ties encouraged linguistic and cultural ties (Jrank Artic.org n.d.). He postulated that nationalism created nations in places they were not existent and facilitated in ushering the modern age of globalization and industrial modernity. According to him, nationalism generated realms in places where they were not present before, and not only was the concept of sociological essential but it also enabled the running of industrial innovation (Shyamwolfstrider 2012). The modernist idea of nationalism was based on invented traditions and a variety of rituals or actions that imply unity continuity and with the intention of strengthening and maintenance of certain behaviours and thinking. According to this school of thought, it is more important, when dealing with questions about the nation, one should start from the nation and nationalism as opposed to their different symbolic representations. Culture is something that requires be acquiring and learning and despite the fact that it is crucial in characterizing nations, it is neither natural nor inherent. Thus, the roots of nationalism needs must have to do with social order and not base on attributes of human nature or instincts. Nevertheless, the post-world war two theorists were not the first to hold the position and Marxist had retrospectively proclaimed a similar message. Marxists considered Nationalism a part of the international political superstructure, Oliver Cox in his works “Class, Caste, and Race” he argues that race is a concept does not exist but is simply a justification for practical exploitative relationships (Marxist Theories n.d.). A Marxists interpretation of race relations stems from their opposition and disapproval of the relationship between western developed nations with the third world and undeveloped ones since the former have for years exploited the latter (Miles 1987). The international bodies such as World Bank and IMF have also being used by the western nations to fund the poorer nations but these funds often come with conditions that ultimately culminate in exploitation of the recipient countries. The relation between racism and nationalism has been critically examined over the years and it has often been subject to much controversy; this is because despite the two concepts being by definition markedly different, they share a number of characteristics. Furthermore, in the past when racism was not only common but also legal in the west more so the United States, one’s nationality and their right to enjoying full privileges was based their race. For example, many European nations used slave labour that was acquired by enslaving Africans who had been rooted of native Africa and shipped to America and Europe. These slaves were later freed from their servitude; notably they were still not treated as equal citizens until about half a decade ago during the civil rights movements championed by the likes of Martin Luther. Capitalism is a western notion that has been used to put in place mechanisms that make it appear as if there is equality and freedom while in reality the rich nations are exploiting the poor ones. Notably many of the rich western nations are the same ones that exploited the others in the past through colonizing them. In Africa many countries were colonized by the British; they were segregated and discriminated along racial lines, for instance in South Africa the British instituted Apartheid, a system that ensured not only the separation but also unequal pay. The occupation of the British in Australia resulted in genocide and later widespread discrimination of the Aboriginal people (Munckton 2010), who have consequently remained alienated even in modern times. In South Africa, the inequalities that resulted from white occupation period are still at play today despite the fact that the segregation was outlawed; the black Africans are still the lower class while the whites are the upper class. According to Immanuel Wallerstein, the international economy has developed a world system wherein the core system that in this case refers to first world countries exploits the peripheral in the third world nations (Marxist Theories n.d.). Labour policies in the global arena engender the ethnic segmentation that has been imposed and through which nationalism is used to justify marginalization and exploitation. It is used to rationalize the lower position of certain groups in the labour market; for example immigrant workers from , Africa Asia and Latin America are often more likely to be exploited and have problems getting permits for formal and blue-chip jobs than those from countries that share a racial composition such as Europe. Thus, despite the political assumption that in America all races are treated equally, a Hispanic or black worker will have harder time acquiring employment than a white person (Bohmer 1998). While it may argue that both prospective employees are foreign, the one bearing racial connections to Americans will likely have an easier time. From such relations one can deduce the despite the presumption of nationalism being independent of racial consideration the line between nationalism and racism is often blurred. Many people, who have been subject to racial discrimination, have a problem separating their racial identities from their nationalities, for instant an Indian or Caribbean born individuals living in England may still hold a British passport. Nevertheless, their children if born therein will while retaining the racial identity of their parent s acquire the nationality of their country of birth, there however those who are not able to make the distinction. For instance, in the 80s and 90s in Britain, Afro Caribbean and Chinese Asians were discriminated and scapegoated for their perceived disloyalty to the British way of life and culture. The attacks were based on the cultural differences between the ethnic groups and the fact that many of the blacks and Asians were in essence British by birth or naturalization did not prevent the onslaught. Such instances evidence the fact that despite ones nation and race not necessarily being the same thing, especially in many of the cosmopolitan western nation cities, some people still have problems accepting people of different races as nationals of their country. Despite the popularity of the modern idea of nationalism which became and academia and philosophical orthodoxy in the 60s and 70s it still came under severe criticism since it did not always live up to the theoretical specifications. This is because despite their claims that there was no ethnic navel in their definition of nationalism, there were some factors that could still not be divorced from perianal nationalism such as culture and language which were based in familial and racial nucleus forming many national communities. Ultimately, nationalism remains an integral part of modern human societies; this is especially in consideration the reality of globalization, which has facilitated extensive interaction and immigration transcending cultural and racial diversity. As evidence herein, the traditional perennial view of Nationalism was based on biological, racial, and historical considerations that facilitated discrimination and deeply divided nations through on largely racial lines. The later modernist theory was however cognizant of the defences between race and nation and under this; peel of one nation did not need to be of one cooler. Such revolutionary theories helped make possible the cultural and racial revolutions in post-world war era since people felt they had legitimate right to belong to the countries where circumstance had put them despite the racial disparities. Marxist thinkers have criticized the idea of nationalism since western nations have been using it to exploit third world nations especially in terms labour and market for local goods. Countries like South Africa that had been colonized by the British ended up being polarized along racial lines years after independence, despite the country being one nation, the inequality in distribution of resources engenders racial issue that cannot be ignored (Marxist Theories n.d.). At the end of the day, despite the fact that they are by definition radically different; nationalisms and racism are a moral a legal grey area in many parts of the world constantly spilling into each other. 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