Ethnic nationalism

Ethnic nationalism, also known as ethnonationalism, is a form of nationalism wherein the nation and nationality are defined in terms of ethnicity, with emphasis on ethnocentric approach to various political issues related to national affirmation of a particular ethnic group.

The central theme 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". It also includes ideas of a culture shared between members of the group, and with their ancestors.

The theorist Anthony D. Smith uses the term "ethnic nationalism" for non-Western concepts of nationalism as opposed to Western views of a nation defined by its geographical territory. Diaspora studies scholars extend this non-geographically bound concept of "nation" among diasporic communities, at times using the term ethnonation or ethnonationalism to describe a conceptual collective of dispersed ethnics.

While in some cases the division between ethnic and civic nationalism is clear—France being the archetypal example of a national identity rooted in civic and linguistic nationalism—in other cases the division is less clear, for example with Turkish nationalism.

Characteristics

The central political tenet of ethnic nationalism is that ethnic groups are entitled to self-determination. 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 a 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.

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, while civic nationalism tends to be inclusive. Rather than allegiance to common civic ideals and cultural traditions, then, ethnic nationalism tends to emphasise narratives of common descent.

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.

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.

Examples

Main article: Right of return § Countries with laws conferring a right of return

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

Herodotus stated the main characteristics of Greek identity: kinship in blood, speech, religious worship, and customs.

Ethnic nationalism is present in many states' immigration policies in the form of repatriation laws, including Armenia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Serbia, Turkey, Estonia, Greece, Italy, Malaysia, Romania, and Russia, provide automatic or rapid citizenship to members of diasporas of their own dominant ethnic group, if desired.

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)), "natives" of Sarawak (161A(6)(a)), and "natives" of Sabah (Article 161A(6) (b)). Certain but not all pro-bumiputra policies exist as affirmative action for bumiputras, for NEP is racial-based and not deprivation-based. For instance, all Bumiputra, regardless of their financial standing, are entitled to a 7 percent discount on houses or property, including luxurious units, whilst a low-income non-Bumiputra receives no such financial assistance. Other preferential policies include quotas for the following: admission to government educational institutions, qualification for public scholarships, marking of universities exam papers, special bumiputras-only classes prior to university's end of term exams, for positions in government, and ownership of businesses. Most of the policies were established in the Malaysian New Economic Policy (NEP) period. Many policies focus on trying to achieve a bumiputra share of corporate equity, comprising at least 30% of the total. Ismail Abdul Rahman proposed this target after the government was unable to agree on a suitable policy goal.

In German nationality law, citizenship is open to ethnic Germans. According to the Greek nationality law, Greeks born abroad may transmit citizenship to their children from generation to generation indefinitely. As of 2013 this is also true in the case of the Philippine nationality law which, has conferred Philippine citizenship on children born after 15 October 1986, with at least one Philippine citizen parent.

See also

• Asabiyyah
• Composite nationalism
• Conservative Revolutionary movement
• Degeneration theory
• Diaspora politics
• Essentialism
• Ethnic democracy
• Ethnocentrism
• Ethnocracy
• Herrenvolk democracy
• Hindutva
• Historiography and nationalism
• Identity politics
• Nihonjinron
• Nationalization of history
• List of irredentist claims or disputes
• Stateless nation
• Zionism

Sources

• Leoussi, Athena, ed. (2001). Encyclopedia of Nationalism. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers. ISBN 9781412822558.
• Roshwald, Aviel (2001). Ethnic Nationalism and the Fall of Empires: Central Europe, the Middle East and Russia, 1914-1923. London and New York: Routledge. ISBN 9781134682539.
• Smith, Anthony D. (1981). The Ethnic Revival in the Modern World. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521232678.
• Smith, Anthony D. (1987) [1986]. The Ethnic Origins of Nations. Oxford and New York: Blackwell. ISBN 9780631152057.
• Smith, Anthony D. (2009). Ethno-symbolism and Nationalism: A Cultural Approach. London and New York: Routledge. ISBN 9781135999483.

Further reading

• Armstrong, John. Nations before Nationalism (1982) excerpt and text search
• Breuilly, John. Nationalism and the State (2nd ed. 1995) excerpt and text search
• De Benoist, Alain. "Nationalism: Phenomenology & Critique." Counter-Currents.com, 16 May 2012.
• De Benoist, Alain. "On Identity." Telos, Vol. 2004, No. 128 (Summer 2004), pp. 9–64. Telos page, online text
• De Benoist, Alain. Vu de droite: Anthologie critique des idées contemporaines (2002). excerpt
• De Benoist, Alain. Les Idées à l’endroit (1979). text search
• Esman, Milton J., and Itamar Rabinovich, eds. Ethnicity, Pluralism, and the State in the Middle East (1988)
• Gurr, Ted Robert, and Barbara Harff. Ethnic Conflict in World Politics (1994) online
• Hutcheon, Linda (1998). "Crypto-Ethnicity" (PDF). PMLA: Publications of the Modern Language Association of America. 113 (1): 28–51. doi:10.2307/463407. JSTOR 463407.
• Jones, Larry Eugene & Retallack, James, eds.. Between Reform, Reaction, and Resistance. Studies in the History of German Conservatism from 1789 to 1945 (1993). text search
• Kramer, Lloyd. Nationalism in Europe & America: Politics, Cultures, and Identities since 1775 (2011) online
• Mohler, Armin. Die Konservative Revolution in Deutschland 1918–1932 (1972). excerpt and text search
• Smith, Anthony D. (1995). Nations and Nationalism in a Global Era. Cambridge: Polity Press. ISBN 9780745610191.
• Smith, Anthony D. (2000). The Nation in History: Historiographical Debates about Ethnicity and Nationalism. Hanover: University Press of New England. ISBN 9781584650409.
• Smith, Anthony D. (2010) [2001]. Nationalism: Theory, Ideology, History (2. ed.). Cambridge: Polity Press. ISBN 9780745651279.
• Smith, Anthony D. (2004). The Antiquity of Nations. Cambridge and Malden: Polity Press. ISBN 9780745627465.
• Smith, Anthony D. (2013). The Nation Made Real: Art and National Identity in Western Europe, 1600-1850. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780199662975.
• Sunic, Tomislav. Postmortem Report: Cultural Examinations from Postmodernity. Shamley Green, UK: The Paligenesis Project, 2010.
• Venner, Dominique. Le Siècle de 1914. Utopies, guerres et révolutions en Europe au XXe siècle (2006). text search