State nationalism

Nationalism that equates 'state identity' with 'nation identity' From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

State nationalism or state-led nationalism^[1] is a nationalism that equates 'state identity' with 'nation identity' or values state authority. 'State nationalism' is considered a form of 'civic nationalism' and there are similarities between the two, but state nationalism also has to do with illiberal, authoritarian and totalitarian politics.^[2]^[3]^[4]

Conceptual framework

State nationalism is a "top-down" process where the state apparatus creates and promotes a national identity to secure political legitimacy. Unlike ethnic nationalism, which typically emerges as a "bottom-up" movement from shared ancestry, state nationalism relies on the existing legal and political boundaries of the state. Scholars like Anthony D. Smith categorize this as a feature of "territorial nations," where the state exists before a coherent sense of national belonging is formed. In this model, the state uses institutions—such as public education, military service, and official language policies—to assimilate diverse populations into a single national body.^[2]^[4]^[5]^[6]^[7]

By countries

Asia

In the East Asian cultural sphere, including China, "state nationalism" and "statism" are both written as 國家主義,^[a] making the distinction between the two unclear.^[8]^[9] Also, in the East Asian cultural sphere, state nationalism is often contrasted with ethnic-based national liberation movements.^[10]^[11]^[12]

China

Chinese state nationalism is a civic nationalistic ideology,^[2] but it is an ideology that reduces Hong Kong's autonomy and justifies the dictatorship of the Chinese Communist Party.^[13]^[14]^[15]

Japan

Kokkashugi (国家主義), variously translated as "statism"^[16] and "nationalism",^[17] "state-nationalism"^[18] and "national socialism",^[19] was the ruling ideology of the Empire of Japan, particularly during the first decades of the Shōwa era.

Japanese ultranationalism (ex: Shōwa statism) is often described as "state ultranationalism" (Japanese: 超国家主義)^[20] because it values state unity around the Emperor of Japan.^[20]

Mongolia

Yumjaagiin Tsedenbal during the People's Republic of Mongolia is an example of state nationalism.^[21]

Turkey

Kemalism can also be referred to as Turkish state nationalism.^[22]

Europe

Italy

In Italian fascism, state nationalist sentiment appears in the slogan Benito Mussolini: "Tutto nello Stato, niente al di fuori dello Stato, nulla contro lo Stato" ("Everything in the State, nothing outside the State, nothing against the State"); this illustrates the fascist principle of statolatry, where the state is elevated to a spiritual entity that absorbs all aspects of private and national life.^[23]^[24]^[25]

Former Soviet Union

Spain

Francoism is marked by 'state nationalism' based on authoritarianism due to the multi-ethnic nature of Spain.^[4]

Notes

[a]
Simplified Chinese: 国家主义, pinyin: guójiā zhǔyì

Japanese: 国家主義, Hepburn: kokka shugi

Korean: 국가주의

Vietnamese: chủ nghĩa quốc gia

References

[1]
Liu Li; Fan Hong (14 July 2017). The National Games and National Identity in China. Taylor & Francis. p. 4.
[2]
Mohammad Ateeque. Identity Conscience Nationalism and Internationalism. Educreation Publishing. p. 52.
[3]
Jacob T. Levy (2000). The Multiculturalism of Fear. OUP Oxford. p. 87.
[4]
J. C. Chatturvedi (2005). Political Governance: Political theory. Isha Books. p. 75.
[5]
Anthony D. Smith (1991). National Identity. Penguin Books. pp. 80–85, 110–116.
[6]
Benedict Anderson (1983). Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism. Verso. pp. 83–111.
[7]
Eric Hobsbawm; Terence Ranger, eds. (1983). The Invention of Tradition. Cambridge University Press. pp. 263–307.
[8]
N. Serina Chan (November 11, 2011). The Thought of Mou Zongsan. Brill. p. 73. ISBN 978-90-04-21212-1.
[9]
Clemens Büttner; Li Fan; Zhang Ke; Tze-Ki Hon; Sun Qing; Zhang Qing; Mirjam Tröster; Huang Xingtao; Zhiyi Yang; Zou Zhenhuan (June 24, 2011). Discourses of Weakness in Modern China: Historical Diagnoses of the »Sick Man of East Asia«. Campus Verlag. p. 270. ISBN 978-3-593-50902-0.
[10]
Gayle, Curtis Anderson (2003-08-29). Marxist History and Postwar Japanese Nationalism. Routledge. doi:10.4324/9780203217771. ISBN 978-1-134-43159-5.
[11]
Myers, Brian Reynolds (December 28, 2016). "Still the Unloved Republic". Sthele Press. Retrieved June 26, 2019. ... Someone who is asked by a pollster whether he is prouder of the Taehan minguk or of the minjok therefore knows which answer is better, more progressive-sounding. In all likelihood he is not prouder of the republic than of his Koreanness. One should be wary of polls on this issue that were not conducted precisely and clearly.
[12]
Baogang He (8 July 2015). Governing Taiwan and Tibet: Democratic Approaches. Edinburgh University Press. p. 81.
[13]
Hankwon Kim (2022). Cultural and State Nationalism: South Korean and Japanese Relations with China. American University.
[14]
Jonathan Unger (26 September 2016). Chinese Nationalism. Taylor & Francis.
[15]
Chang, Che (1 December 2020). "The Nazi Inspiring China's Communists". The Atlantic.
[16]
Tamanoi, Mariko Asano (2008-10-31). Memory Maps: The State and Manchuria in Postwar Japan. University of Hawaii Press. p. 144. ISBN 978-0-8248-6359-3.
[17]
Stegewerns, Dick (2005-07-27). "The dilemma of nationalism and internationalism in modern Japan". In Stegewerns, Dick (ed.). Nationalism and Internationalism in Imperial Japan: Autonomy, Asian Brotherhood, Or World Citizenship?. Routledge. p. 12. ISBN 978-1-135-79060-8.
[18]
Julia C., Schneider (2023-07-31). "Chinese Nationalism in Late Qing Times: How to (not) change a multi-ethnic empire into a homogenous nation-state". In Zhouxiang, Lu (ed.). The Routledge Handbook of Nationalism in East and Southeast Asia. Taylor & Francis. p. 110. ISBN 978-1-000-91168-8.
[19]
Hofmann, Reto (2015-07-09). The Fascist Effect: Japan and Italy, 1915–1952. Cornell University Press. p. 157. ISBN 978-0-8014-5636-7. ...the literal translation of kokkashugi is "state socialism." This rendering reﬂects its proponents' emphasis on the state as an institution to solve economic and social problems. But the adherents of this ideology often translated kokkashugi as "national socialism," and contemporaries often remarked about the parallels with German National Socialism. For example, the title of the journal of this school of thought was kokkashakaishugi, which they translated as "national socialism."
[20]
Thomas R.H. Havens (March 8, 2015). Farm and Nation in Modern Japan: Agrarian Nationalism, 1870-1940. Princeton University Press. p. 319.
[21]
"Tsedenbal's Mongolia and the Communist Aid Donors: A Reappraisal". Wilson Center. Retrieved 2024-05-22.
[22]
Cengiz Gunes (2020). The Political Representation of Kurds in Turkey: New Actors and Modes of Participation in a Changing Society. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 6.
[23]
Benito Mussolini (1935). The Doctrine of Fascism. Rome: Ardita Publishers. pp. 7–10.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: publisher location (link)
[24]
Roger Griffin (1991). The Nature of Fascism. Pinter Publishers. pp. 36–39.
[25]
Michael Mann (2004). Fascists. Cambridge University Press. pp. 13–16.