Multiplicity of nationalism in contemporary Europe

2005

In contemporary Europe, there can be noted the overlapping and rivalry of the two signifi cant tendencies, which are becoming stronger and stronger. On one hand, one can notice multilevel processes of integration and conditions connected with them and that are concerned with democracy, tolerance, globalization, etc. On the other hand, one can observe disintegrative factors of various kind, which refer to actions and postures connected with chauvinism, xenophobia, neofascism and separatism. In the second view, especially in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), various aspects connected with nationalism seem to be of great signifi cance. ! is is clearly refl ected by the events which took place in, for example, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo or Macedonia. THE PICTURE OF CONTEMPORARY

1997

List of Figures xiv List of Abbreviations xv Maps xvii 1 Introduction 1 Outline of the Analysis 2 Methods 2 2.1 Definitions 2 2.2 The Comparative Method 3 2.3 Choice of Cases 4

1996

Abstract. This article compares the ‘new nationalism’ in post-communist countries since the 1980s with the ‘classical’ national movements o the nineteenth century. Looking for analogies and differences between these two processes, it seeks to achieve a better understanding and more profound interpretation of contemporary ‘nationalism’. Most important analogies are: both national movements emerged as a result of (and as an answer to) the crisis and disintegration of an old regime and its value system; in both cases we observe a low level of political experience among the population, the stereotype of a personalised nation, and of a defensive position. Similarly both movements define their national border by both ethnic and historical borders: in both cases, the nationally relevant conflict of interests plays a decisive role. Among the differences are: the extremely high level of social communication in the twentieth-century movements, combined with a ‘vacuum at the top’ (the need for...

Nations and Nationalism, 2011

Contemporary Politics, 1997

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U. Chi. L. Sch. Roundtable, 1993

alism be domesticated. However, in most post-communist states the presence of national minorities is still significant. Except in Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Albania, the presence of national minorities varies between 10 and 55 per cent. Thus, recognizing the needs and sensitivities of nationalism leads to a more reflexive and more realistic system for the protection of national minorities. A. Functions of Nationalism in Nation-state Building Reading the Western press, one gets the impression that Westerners view East European nation-state building with contempt. They believe that history dominated by nationalism is illustrated in the best case scenario by the 1870 German-French War and in the worst case scenario by the gas chambers of Auschwitz. Western critics must remember that nationalists are only beginning to make history in Eastern Europe. The undeniable irrationality and bloody xenophobia of nationalist politicians obscure the positive functions nationalism can and does play in the region. 4 For example, nationalism builds nation-states even while it excludes minorities. West Europeans, accustomed to assimilationist nationalism, reject the virulent strains of East European nationalism. 5 Assimilationist nationalism allows non-' Hungary and Albania have no sizeable minorities (although Gypsies present serious social problems). Hungarians (in Slovakia and Romania) and Albanian minorities (in Kosovo-Serbia and in Macedonia) make the nationalities issue extremely important for these countries. ' Nationalism and nation-building cannot be discussed simply in metaphoric terms such as "virus" or idola tribum. For a criticism of similar approaches see Paula Franklin Lytle, U.S. Policy Toward the Demise of Yugoslavia: The "Virus of Nationalism", 6 E Eur Pol & Societies 303 (1992). Lytle aptly describes the terrible consequences of the metaphoric approach of the contemptuous Western foreign policies toward Yugoslavia and her successor states. ' European nationalism seems irrational to Americans because assimilation by direct state intervention and initiative runs contrary to the American values of tolerance and minimal government. The difference between American constitutional nationalism and European romantic ("blood and soil") nationalism is evidenced by comparing their contrasting oaths of allegiance. In America, citizens pledge allegiance to the Constitution whereas in Eastern Europe, citizens pledge allegiance to the Nation, to territorial integrity and to the Constitution, in varying order depending upon the country. For example, "[t]o obtain naturalization, an alien does not pledge allegiance to the American people or to the land mass of the United States. Rather, she must promise to "support and defend the Constitution." T. Alexander Aleinikoff, Citizens, Aliens, Membership and the Constitution, 7 Const Comm 9, 13 (1990). The Polish President, on the other hand, solemnly swears in his oath of office not only to remain faithful to the Constitution, but also "to firmly guard the dignity of the Nation, the independence and security of the State.... Polish Small Const, Art 31. Similar allegiance to the people and to territorial integrity is '

One of the main issues of nationalism studies throughout its history has been the search for the justified position of the academic discourse on nationality with regards to the reality it attempts to rationally explain. Not only was it difficult to abandon the overtly ideological reasoning of the Fichtean kind 1 , but it was and remains to be almost impossible to completely avoid implicit conformity to the public opinion dictated by an agenda formed by key relevant events. In the history of contemporary nationalism studies, one can see occasional rise of condemnation of nationalism prompted by atrocities like those committed in the ex-Yugoslavia 2 or, adversely, cautious attempts of rehabilitation inspired by events like "velvet revolutions" 3 , both lines of reasoning posed against the background of mild critical disapproval of nationalism as such. It seems obvious that for any social science its active distortion of and by the reality it studies is as ideological as tacit conformity to it. However, it remains unclear to what extent the objectivity, or constant self-reflection striving towards objectivity, is impaired in the case of neither distortion nor conformity, but mere confirmation of reality under scrutiny instead of constructing research subject following the immanent logic of the academic field. In this article we analyze a case of such confirmation and its implications regarding the two alternative ways of studying nationalism in a certain geographical part of the world.

National Identities, 2021

This article argues that historicising the evolution of nineteenth century nationalisms in South-Eastern Europe allows us to undermine not only binary understandings of nationalism, but also the essentialist reification of a single ideal type as a dominant or exclusive manifestation of nationalism. It draws attention to the competing nationalisms that can be encountered in the area during this period, varying across the spatial and temporal axes, as well as in their espousal by certain groups within the same ‘nation’. The article challenges notions of a temporal lag, constitutive of binary interpretations that identify a fundamental difference between ‘East’ and ‘West’.