Blackwell Reference Online

Extract

Nationalism is a complex social phenomenon with the nation as its object. Rooted in the Latin natio , denoting community of birth, the term nationalismus seems to have been coined by Johann Gottfried Herder as a part of his Romantic celebration of cultural diversity. Nevertheless, modern nationalism has its ideological roots in both the Enlightenment and the Romantic reaction to it. Definitions of “nationalism” as, indeed, of the “nation” vary in the social sciences: first, according to the particular aspect of “nationalism” that they emphasize as essential to its nature. From this perspective, definitions can be divided mainly between political and cultural variables. Some scholars, like Hans Kohn, Carlton J. H. Hayes, John Plamenatz, Hugh Seton-Watson, and A. D. Smith, have favored either typological or more inclusive definitions. Second, definitions vary according to the dating of nationalism, either before or during the French Revolution. This dating divides them into premodernist and modernist theories. Variations can also be found in explanations of nationalism, i.e., in the motivations and circumstances behind the rise of nationalist demands. Apart from the lack of consensus regarding the nature of nationalism, there is the further difficulty of distinguishing between the ideological and the analytical approaches to the phenomenon. Political definitions of nationalism ... log in or subscribe to read full text