Anti-nationalism denotes the sentiments associated with the opposition to nationalism, arguing

that it is undesirable or dangerous. Some anti-nationalists are humanitarians or humanists who

pursue an idealist form of world community, and self-identify as world citizens. They reject
chauvinism, jingoism and militarism, and want humans to live in peace rather than perpetual
conflict. They do not necessarily oppose the concepts of countries, nation states, national
boundaries, cultural preservation or identity politics.
Some anti-nationalists oppose all types of nationalism, even ethnic nationalism among oppressed
minority groups. This strain of anti-nationalism typically advocates the elimination of national
boundaries. Variations on this theme are often seen in Marxist theory. Marx and Engles rejected
nationalism as a whole, believing "the working class have no country". [1] More recently, certain
groups descended from the Maoist tradition of Marxism have moved towards this fiercely antinationalist stance in a different way than Trotskyists, saying that although it may be a painful and
unpopular position to hear, ultimately opposing all nationalism strengthens proletarian
internationalism. Many Trotskyists, however, such as Chris Harman, were critical of nationalism
while advocating support for what they saw as progressive national struggles. [2]
Anarchism has developed a critique of nationalism that focuses on nationalism's role in justifying
and consolidating state power and domination. Through its unifying goal, nationalism strives for
centralization, both in specific territories and in a ruling elite of individuals, while it prepares a
population for capitalist exploitation. Within anarchism, this subject has been treated extensively
by Rudolf Rocker in Nationalism and Culture and by the works of Fredy Perlman, such as
Against His-Story, Against Leviathan and "The Continuing Appeal of Nationalism". [3]
In his "Aphorisms on the Wisdom of Life", Arthur Schopenhauer rejected nationalism, seeing it
as an abandonment of personal identity. [4] The philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche can also be
seen as opposing all forms of nationalism, although he opposed virtually every other form of
social movement and ideology as well. [5]

[edit] Notable anti-nationalists

Lord Acton
Anarchist Federation (Britain and Ireland)
Hannah Arendt [6]
Arthur C. Clarke
Kenneth Clark
Eugene V. Debs
Freeman Dyson
Albert Einstein
Emma Goldman
Eugne Ionesco [7]
Vladimir Lenin
John Lennon
Rosa Luxembourg

Karl Marx
Eamonn McCann
Lewis Mumford
Our Party of Bosnia and Herzegovina
Fredy Perlman
Progressive Labor Party
Rudolf Rocker
Bertrand Russell
Carl Sagan
Doug Stanhope
Rabindranath Tagore[8]
Leon Trotsky
Mao Zedong
Thorstein Veblen [9]
H.G. Wells
T. H. White
John Zerzan

[edit] See also

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Anti-nationalism

Anationalism
Anti-patriotism
Anarchism and nationalism
Anti-fascism
Anti-Germans (political current)
Anti-statism
Cosmopolitanism
Global Citizens Movement
Internationalism (politics)
Nationalism
Proletarian internationalism
Situationist Antinational

[edit] References
1. ^ Nationalism: A Critical Introduction by Philip Spencer and Howard Wollman, SAGE,
2002 (pgs. 8-9).
2. ^ The Return of the National Question by Chris Harman, a Trotskyist analysis and
critique of nationalism.
3. ^ The Continuing Appeal of Nationalism by Fredy Perlman.Detroit, Black & Red
Publishers, 1985.

4. ^ The Morality of Nationalism, edited by Robert McKim and Jeff McMahan.Oxford

University Press US, 1997 (pg. 121).
5. ^ Feminist Interpretations of Friedrich Nietzsche edited by Kelly Oliver and Marilyn
Pearsall. Penn State Press, 1998 (pg. 288)
6. ^ "Hannah Arendt as a Critic of Nationalism", in Liberalism, Nationalism, Citizenship:
Essays on the problem of political community by Ronald Beiner. UBC Press, 2003, (pgs.
129-147)
7. ^ "Ionesco was not a nationalist" (letter) by Emil Simiu, New York Review of Books, Dec.
23rd 2010 - Jan 12th, 2010, p. 102.
8. ^ Landscapes of Hope: Anti-Colonial Utopianism in America by Dohra Ahmad. Oxford
University Press, 2009 (pgs. 94-6)
9. ^ "Veblen was against nationalism because it involves wasteful, honorific, and hence
barbaric rituals, ceremonies, and related phenomena". Quoted in "Introduction" by
Stjepan G. Mestrovic to Thorstein Veblen by David Riesman. Transaction Publishers,
1953 (pg. xvi)
[show]v d eNationalism

[show]v d eGlobal governance and identity

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Categories: Political theories | Politics and race | Nationalism