Nationalism And Primordialism

1758 Words4 Pages

Nationalism Final
Question One
Many different theoretical approaches exist to study the rise of nationalism throughout history. One approach is primordialism. Primordialism states that nationalism is a natural part of human beings. This field contends that distinct nations have existed since the dawn of time. Primordialism is also described as nationalism is created by people being surrounded by distinct cultural features like religion, custom, and language. This view believes that nations are unchanging and primordial from their beginning (Özkirimli 2000, 64-65). Thus, ethnic and national ties are given at birth. One subset of primordialism is the perennalist approach. This approach believes that modern nations are clear descendants of their …show more content…

The second type of nationalism, official nationalism. was developed after and in response to popular nationalism. Official nationalism was nationalism that was supported by governments in states. This approach was used to increase the power of the state and to quell revolutionary sentiments. Further, this approach emphasized sameness and focus on one culture as seen in czarist Russia’s Russification policies (Anderson 2006, 86). Various countries took different approaches to growing nationalist calls that defined their …show more content…

The Brexit campaign was based on fear of Middle Eastern migrants entering the country due to the EU’s free movement of Europeans and promises to spread refugees amongst European countries. Activists declared “We want our country back’. This sentiment was echoed by various British citizens. One citizen, Clive a taxi driver from seaside Margate saw his country as changing too much. Clive described that foreigners were filling his towns schools and declared that the neighboring town Cliftonville was so filled with migrant gypsies it was like being in Romania. These concerns over changing ethnic identity catapulted the leave campaign to victory. This caused opponent of Brexit Prime Minister David Cameron to resign and be replaced by Theresa May (League of Nationalists 2016, 4-5). May now has the task of leading the United Kingdom after Brexit. May must now decide if she will continue economically beneficial trade agreements at the expense at allowing immigration (Mind Your Step 2016, 1). The situations in the United Kingdom and Hungary have parallels to German nationalism of the 19th

More about Nationalism And Primordialism

Open Document