Nationalism

Concept and Criteria

• Essentially an Emotive force

• Difficult to define in rational terms

• Origins in Enlightenment Ideas of Social Contract Theory &

Popular Representation

• Developed as Political Concept in French Revolution and

Napoleonic era

• Deeply linked to concept of State and of course Nation

Overview

Some key criteria though not all (or even any!) necessarily apply –

1. Common History

2. Geographical Space

3. Common Ethnicity

4. Shared Language

Defining the Nation:

Plus also (again to some degree)

5. Common Religious Beliefs

6. External, International Recognition

And perhaps above all:

7. Shared sense of Belonging

e.g. Benedict Anderson’s concept of :

An ‘Imagined Community’

Modern Nationalism:

The Influence of French Revolution

‘Nation=State=People’