Nationalism and Racism Flashcards
How is nationalism racist regarding justification of racist agendas?
Ideas about cultural differences have been used to justify egregious accounts of racism - e.g. Herder’s ideas about a common language as a division of people (Treatise on the Origin of Language 1772) - used by Hitler in his ‘Greater Germany’ whose for of national socialism separated people by their common language - persecution on the basis of language and race - racist.
How is nationalism racist regarding conservative and chauvinist nationalism?
Many conservative/chauvinist nationalist movements stray into racism - claim national superiority - e.g. Maurras in his Journal ‘Action Francaise’ - where he suppressed individualism and blamed Jewish people of France’s programme of unpatriotic individualism - replicated by Hitler’s ‘Aryan purity’ - violent anti-Semitism.
How is nationalism racist regarding black chauvinism?
Pan-Africanism has been argued to be a legitimate claim to racial heritage though it is is essentially sugar-coated racism - e.g. Garvey ‘A Message to the People’ (1937) - human race had its origins in Africa therefore Africans are superior - however Garvey claimed this was concerned with cultural and economic liberalisation rather than racism - Zimbabwean Robert Mugabe - took land from white farmers - reversing colonialisation - no racial motive?
How is nationalism not racist regarding Herder and language?
Herder emphasised a common language as a way to separate peoples - e.g. ‘Spew out the slime of the Seine’ - however he was no racist as he didn’t focus on the biological distinctions between cultures - his philosophy is free from biological prejudices, which indeed he works tirelessly to prevent.
How is nationalism not racist regarding liberal nationalists?
Liberal nationalists cannot be linked with racism - they emphasise connections to democracy and the nation state as a way to divide - e.g. Rousseau’s ideas of ‘general will’ - so long as people are willing to contribute democratically as part of this self-determination, they are welcome to be part of the nation - replicated in the US wherein nationality is concerned with connections to the flag.
How is nationalism not racist in relation to the development of a particular nation to bring about liberalisation?
Liberal nationalists emphasise the development of a nation as a way to being about liberalisation of citizens - e.g. Mazzini’s ideas of ‘Young Italy’ - to create ‘one free, independent republic’ - if the nation is supressed by foreign governments, the subjects cannot be free.
