Nations And Nationalism And Ethno-Symbolism

Nations and nationalism are an immense force in shaping the world as we know it. However, people have there seem to be conflicting ideologies among people regarding the origins of a nation. The first approach defined as ‘Modernism’ is the belief that nations are a product of highly cultivated, literate, structured and scientifically advanced societies from the modern world. Secondly, there is another approach called ‘Ethno-Symbolism’ which I believe to be truer to a more true to the causes of origins of a nation because it encompasses the belief that a unique culture, shared history and memories as well as bonds of ethnicities and kinship are the factors which unite people from a certain territory into forming a distinct identity in form of a nation. Therefore, I disagree with the statement, “Nations are primarily products of the modern world.”

A key factor that leads to my belief that nations need historical roots is the idea that nations come into existence over long periods of time as Steven Grosby1 asserts

To prove this Anthony Smith states6, “It comes as no surprise the world’s most intractable conflicts- in India and the Middle East, the Caucasus and the Horn of Africa, the Balkans and the southern Africa are either ethno-national conflicts or possess a strong nationalist component.” thereby implying that people from historical ethnic backgrounds possess a sense of nationalism and strive for it. Furthermore7, many of the first nations that emerged in the West were based on ethnic ties like England, France, Sweden, Holland and these nations acted as models for others when they came into being therefore, if we examine closely we can find clear ethnic traces in most of the nations existing in the modern