áNationalism and Modernism, Anthony Smith, 1998

 Introduction
 Nationalism was an inclusive and liberating force. It integrated localism, region dialectic,
customs and clans a helped to create large and powerful nations-states which centralized
market, administrative and educational system. Nationalism was found wherever native
elites and people fought to overthrow feudal practices foreign imperial and colonial
administration.
 The large scale democratic mass-nationalism of earlier 19th century extended to small scale
mini-nations based on cultural and linguistic differences.
 The lines of nationalism blended with the darker forces like fascism, racism or anti-
Semitism led to holocaust and Hiroshima. The new generation which was more akin to
travel and mixing culture found old concept of nationalism outdated. They favored
supranational continent in Europe free of national lines and divisions.
 Mass civic nation was eroded by new political and economic realities of very unequal
division of labor, transnational forces, communication, information technology and ethnic
cleavages.
 The rise and decline of modernism
 The traditional idea of nationalism which grounded in social life and history. It was
homogenous and united who represented major social and political actors is outdated now.
In modern world the idea of nationalism is based on realist view. The scholars nationalism
does recognize psychological power and political power of the nations but at the same time
emphasize on building nation on the basis of communication, urbanization, education and
political participation. Recipe of nationalism is to replicate the success of nations in the
west through open channels of communication, expression, organized and responsive
politics and mature and flexible elites.
 Classical modernism was most widely accepted modernism till recently. In 1960s in the
wake of decolonization effected the policy makers of the west. Varieties of ideas theories
and paradigm emerged but most of them accepted the validity of classical modernism. New
version framed nation and nationalism as hybrid, invented and imagined forms. We can
say they were the modern version of far older communities based on social, cultural
communities.
 These new approaches to nationalism emphasized on
a) Power and unpredictability of nationalism(can’t say when it will start and nationalism a
dominant force in the modern world)
b) Difficulty in providing clear cut definition but also a feeling that nations are sociological
communities with great powers.
c) Historical specifity of nation and nationalism
d) Engineered identities to achieve certain interest by elites.
e) Commitment to sociological explanation to derive modernism ( through social conditions
and political process)
Chapter 1:The rise of classical modernism
 In classical nationalism there were several prominent issues at hand. Either nation is an end
in itself or means to an end? The relationship of individual and community is ethno cultural
in character whose members are bound by kinship. Political community is based on citizen
rights, common laws and individual choice to belong. Nation apart of evolving community
rooted in long history of shared roots, culture or typical product of certain stage in time
which will pass away once conditions will no longer apply.
 The roots of classical modernism:
 Early scholars mingled the evolutionary account nation, degree of volunteerism,
prescription of political activism with the sense of long term ethno-cultural roots.
Michelet- called nation as a defense mechanism in the era of fraternity (9)
Rousseau religion of patriotism of man fraternizing in the presence of God.
Sieyes nations existed outside the legal and social bond in nature.
Lord Acton considers nation as a bulwark of self-government and the foremost limit to the
excessive power of the state.
Renan combines a sense of ethno-cultural formation in Europe with the belief in the active political
commitment and member of the nation. Renan emphasize on the fusion of races in the nation of
the Western Europe and retention of the ethnic distinctiveness in Eastern Europe.
 Reductionist scheme: In early commentaries nationality was written with specific political
development in mind. There was no general theory of nation which was applicable to all
cases. By nineteenth century nation was often interchangeably referred with race German
philosophers also adopted this reductionist approach focused on importance of language
and political history in creation of nation state.
 Otto Bauer nationalities from their ethnic foundations and class formation and communities
of character. He and his colleagues believed that it was possible to influence nation through
political intervention which would separate the principle of cultural nationality from
territorial location and political rights.
 Mazzini believed that geography, history, ethnic descent language and religion might
determine most of the character of nation.
Intellectual Foundations
 Both Marx and Engel focused on the role of economic class factor on the evolution of
humanity. Ethnic national principles are secondary and contributory factors like class
conflicts and modes of production in successive stages of history is of primary importance.
Marxist didn’t give any theory or model of nationalism because science through which they
study it restrict focus on economic basis. In addition to economic reductionism Marxist
also have a Eurocentric bias. Nationalism was intrinsic to the development of modern
capitalist era. They were to be understood as the manifestation both of European capitalism
 need for ever larger territorial markets and trading blocs and the growing distance between
modern capitalist states.
 Second major influence on classical modernism and more important modern theories of
nationalism is connected to social psychological paradigm. Kedourie talked about social
psychology of restless, alienated youth resentful of parental traditions and authority. Social
psychological dimension cold be seen in functionalist analysis of mass-mobilizing
nationalism as political religion. David Apter, Lycian Pye and Lenord Binder used it in
their works. Similarly Neil Semlser studied influence of crowd behavior on social
movements. What these approaches have in common is belief in dislocating the nature of
modernity disorientation of individuals and its capacity to disrupt the stability of traditional
sources of support. On the whole it contributed the overall picture of nation and nationalism
presented in classical modernism.
 The third major influence was the work of Max Weber. Even though he never exactly
wrote about nationalism but a lot of themes in his writings became important in classical
modernism. The importance of political memories and the role of intellectuals in preserving
the cultural values of nation. The importance of nation state in the rise of modern west. The
most important theme he used is the role of political action in the formation of ethnic groups
especially in perspective to modern European nations. Weber talks about status groups who
believe in common descent. He emphasize on the importance of political action and
memories. Political action can give rise to the sense of blood relationship unless differences
of anthropological type does not hinder it.
 The sense of community is based on common political and indirectly social experience
which are highly valued by masses as a symbol of destruction of feudalism and story of
these events the place of heroic legends of primitive people. (14) Weber defines nation as
a community of sentiments which would adequately manifest itself in the state of its own;
hence a nation is a community which normally tend to produce a state of its own.
 What aspiration and struggle for statehood distinguish nation from other communities of
solidarity. In Weber view modern state is a rational type of association. It is the main
agency of rationalization of history. On the other hand a nation is a particular type of
community and a prestige group. In modern world both need each other. State derive
legitimization and popular direction from nation and nation gets protection of its unique
cultural values against other communities.
 Weber cannot be categorized as modernist but he used contemporary European examples
which were used to explain the political version of modernist paradigm. Weber has a huge
endorsement from political modernism because he emphasize on the role of power
especially state power in the definition of nation ns explaining of nationalism.
 The final influence in classical modernism is Durkhemian emphasis on community. Most
of his work revolved around the idea of nation as a moral community with its collective
consciousness
The second major paradigm in the contemporary debate, ethnosymbolism, primarily represented
by Anthony D. Smith, stress the symbolic legacy of ethnic identities, and seeks to show how
modern nationalism rediscovers and reinterprets the symbols, myths, memories, traditions and
values of their ethno-histories, as they encounter the challenges of modernity (Smith,1998:223-
224). Ethnosymbolists argues that modern nations and nationalism are grounded in pre-existing
ethnic ties and that the nationalist, political mobilisation is based on this legacy (Smith 1995:71).
2.1.1 Major modernist and ethnosymbolist theories In this thesis I will primarily consider some
influential theoretical lines of development from the 1960s and onwards. From the 1960s to the
1980s, the scholars of nationalism were primarily brought together by their focus on long-term
political, economic and cultural changes that led to the gradual emergence of nations. These
scholars were all ‘developmentalists’ in this sense (Brubaker1996:19). Kedourie made a key
contribution to the modernist school in 1960, by claiming that nations and nationalism were
inventions of the modern period. Drawing from Kedourie, Gellner who has been very important
to the modernist school, explains nationalism as a ‘by-product’ of modern social order according
to Thompson and Fevre (2001:305). It becomes a necessity only in the modern world as the
relationship between power and culture is altogether different in an industrial society. The
industrial society with its division of labour requires standardised, homogenous populations
provided by a state-organised education. Gellner shows how the nations emerge as a result of social
change due to industrialisation. (Gellner 1983:35-38).
9
Anthony D. Smith, who is a former PhD-student of Gellner, followed him in exploring the
sociological dimensions of nationalism. He explains modern nationalism as a reinterpretation of
the symbols, myths and memories of pre-modern ethnic communities in order to provide a basis
for social cohesion and political action in modern societites (Smith 1995:155).
2.1.2 Invented traditions and imagined communities Within the modernist paradigm, two
theories both stemming from the Marxist tradition have been particularly central to some of the
recent postmodern interpretations of nationalism, as they have integrated cultural and subjective
elements into the modernist paradigm. Eric Hobsbawm and Terence Ranger locates nationalism
within a specific period of high to late capitalism, a period of industrialisation, urbanisation and
democratisation. They seek to demonstrate the designed and constructed nature of nationalism as
a recent construct on behalf of the elite, serving the preservation of the order in the upheaval of
capitalism. Hobsbawm and Ranger see nationalism as based on an invented tradition implying
continuity with a suitable historic past (Hobsbawm and Ranger 1983). Benedict Anderson’s
theory stresses the cultural and subjective dimensions of nationalism. He defines the nation as an
imagined political community. Anderson emphasises the print-technique and capitalism as
fundamental to the rise of nationalism. Printed media encouraged the growth of national
consciousness by fixing the vernacular language in a standard form, which, due to the rise of a free
market of mass-printings, replaced Latin and helped to create a print-language mediated, imagined
community. Through the circulation of printed media in the vernacular language people are
beginning to imagine themselves as belonging to a national community (Anderson 1991).
3. The ethnosymbolist theory of Anthony D. Smith and postmodern criticisms Perrinalism
3.1 Pre-modern sentiments and modern nations: Smith’s ethnosymbolist approach
 Anthony Smith believes that nationalism is not a modern phenomenon rather it incorporate
several features of premodern ethnic communities. He does recognize the importance of
capitalism, urbanization, bureaucratization and science but at the same time he believes
that ethnicity and its revival should kept in view while we consider the phenomenon of
nationalism.
 While he believes that nation is not a given entity out of social existence as primordial
scholars argue but at the same time the foundation of nation is not entirely modern. Nation
identities and ideologies are ingrained in history so they should seek it in the group
identities and sentiments of the past. By his emphasis on historical discovery he does not
mean historical continuity between modern revival of ethnicity and preceding one. Instead
he believes in sociological continuity. In his view ethnicity forms cultural and social
stuctures which has a tendency to reappear every generation.
 In his view modern nations are formed out of premodern ethnies “cultural basis.” These
cultural basis are indispensable for a nation. It cannot exist without cultural basis. Smith
defines cultural basis as cohesive power, historic primarcy, symbols, myths, memories and
values
 Therfore he believes that it is important to keep these cultural and social structures in
perspective while we study the origin of nation and the way they transform. We cannot
understand nationalism and ethnic organization without a theory of ethnic sentiments in
history. he contends that the pre-modern structure of ethnic groups has an important
bearing on how modern nations form. Leaders and elites do not have complete autonomy
from preceding ethnic cultures and customs in their attempts to create nation-states. Instead
they are constrained by cultures and ideas of the particular communities in which they are
operative, according to Smith (1998:180).
 On the basis of it he rejects claim by both modernists and primordialist former claim there
is a fundamental divide between pre-modern units and sentiments and the latter believe
nation to be an updated version of pre-modern sentiments.

Rather, Smith attempts to reconcile the two viewpoints. He maintains that such an outlook provides
a possibility to recognise that cultural groups differ in the strength and richness of their cultural
traditions, and the impact of traditional institutions and social structure. In some cases a modernist
analysis is more appropriate, where elite manipulation is greater than the attachments to ethnic ties
among the members of a given population (Smith 1983:xxix-xxx). Smith holds that modernisation
theories solely emphasising the break with the past during eighteenth century in Western Europe,
distort the significance and shape of the modern world (ibid:xxxii).
 Smith suggests that any study regarding origin of nations should consider structures and
cultures under which these meaning systems transform. For analyzying these structures he
 presented a concept of ethnic community called ethnie. French term, which refers to a
grouping that unites an emphasis on cultural differences with a sense of the group as a
historical community. It is the particular interpretation of history and the feeling of cultural
uniqueness, which distinguishes populations from each other and gives a population an
identity, both through self-definition and by the definition of others (Smith, 1986:22).
 Smith believe that ethnie preceeced the nation. He argues that the essence or “core” of
ethnicity is based on kinship patterns physical continuity, religious affiliation, language,
tribal affiliation and nationality phenotypical features or any combination of these. Smith
emphasize upon emotional intensity and historical heritage of ethnies. He calles this
combination of myths and symbols as “mythomoteur” which present a consolidated myths
of ethnic community. (15-16)
 In Smith’s view there are six criteria for the formation of ethnic groups:
1) Ethnic groups must have a name in order to develop a collective identity.
2) The people in ethnic group must believe in ethnic ancestry
3) Members of ethnic group must share common historical memories.
4) Ethnic group must feel an attachment to a specific territory.
5) Ethnic group must share same culture which is based on religion, language, traditions,
customs, laws, architecture and institutions.
6) Ethnic groups should be self-aware of their ethnicity. In other words they should have a
sense of their common ethnies.
 The ethnie, once formed, tends to be durable for generations. It constitutes a form within
which all kinds of social and cultural processes can develop, and upon which a number of
circumstances and pressures can exert influence. Only in rare cases do external pressures
together with internal transformations cause a complete breakdown of the particular
qualities of ethnicity. It is much more common according to Smith, that the ethnie either
adjusts its characteristics of ethnicity to the extent that one may conclude a change of ethnic
community or that it adjust itself according to internal disagreement or external pressures
of assimilation (Smith,1986:15-16).
 Smith defined nationalism as
a) Doctrine of ideology
b) Movements
c) Sentiments
d) Process of nation building
e) Symbols and language of nationalism
 The ideology of nationalism can be reduced to its essential proposition
a) The world is naturally divided into nations with their distinct character and destiny
b) The nation is a source of power and loyalty to it supersed all other forms of loyalties.
c) Men should identify themselves with a nation if they wish to be free.
d) Global freedom and peace is a work of liberationand security of nations
e) Nation can only be liberated in their own sovereign state.
 The nation system is a product of a complex process spread over time rather than a product
of fixed time or essence. The earlest states like England. France, Spain were political units
 which were personal possession of the rulers. Through process of modernsation they were
transformed into modern states (139)
 Three crucial features of modernity, related to the emergence of the western statesystem,
underlie the formation of nations. The transition from feudalism to capitalism has received
the most attention. Closely intertwined with the economic revolution is the transformation
of military and administrative methods of control. Finally, there was a cultural and
educational revolution, in which authority and tradition were replaced by a whole new
apparatus in which the sovereign state itself took the place of the deity with a promise of
practical salvation. In the West, territorial centralisation and consolidation conjoined with
a growing cultural standardisation. Administrative language played a central role in
creating a standard mode of communication. Only with the growth of mass-education, did
the French population for example begin to feel loyalty to the state (Smith 1986:133-134).
Smith call this modernized state as scientific state. (1998: 189)
 ESmith believes that the advent of scientific state led to crisis of dual legitimacy. Before
the scientific revolution social and political institutions revolved around religion. The
emergence of scientific state became a threat to traditional society. The intelligentsia was
exposed and converted of modern western ideas while maintaining loyalty to their
traditional values of their group. As a result of scientific state intelligentsia was confronted
with two source of authority tradition and science which created a situation of dual
legitimation. In Smith’s view this could be dealt with by adopting either of three strategies.
To reject science in favor of tradition, reject tradition in favor or science or acknowledge
both source of legitimation.(1983:243-245) Smith believes that intelligentsia who followed
third strategy of acknowledging both are very important aspect of nationalism. HE called
them reformists. He believes in time reformists replace religion with secular ideals but they
still needed to rally people around certain ideology in order to maintain their support. In
such circumstances they attracted to the ideal of their eithnic distinctiveness and autonomy.
Due to this strategy the loyalty to religion was transformed in loyalty to ethnic community.
(1983: 250-51) Therfore nationalism is both traditionalist and modernist. A citizen in a
modern state maintains dual loyalty to it political unit and his ethnic community. In Smith’s
view such dual loyalities are unproblmetic in a homogenious state but it is problemiatic in
the multinational state. (1986: 151-152)
 Smith presents two models of nationformation. Territorial model and ethnic model. They
represent different stages of modernity. At early stage ethnic model seems dominant where
state was more inclined to its ethnic core and ethnies were drawn into ethnic cultue of the
state. Smith argues that these ethnic polities soon transformed into terrotial nations which
were more concerned about citizenship rights, and laws. Smith believes transformation to
territorial model was a mostly a western phenomenon The trends of modernity in Asia and
other parts of the world came later and had different dynamics. Nationalism was a result of
neighboring national struggles, urbanization, improved communication developed ethnic
consciousness. Mostly nationalism was developed on the basis of preexisting ethnies which
was later transformed into national ties. Smith highlights the fact that in Asia and Africa
nationalism was not developed similar to Europe rather they looked for alternate models
of nationalism traditional ethnic religion to mobilize community with their culture.
  Smith believe in order to develop a nation common myths and symbols were very
important. Where did not resonate with nation there was a limit to nationalism an hwere
did not existed they had to be invented. Smith believes that even terrotirial nations were
also cultural communiteis because citizen’s solidarity depends on ethnic and religious
affliation. This realization led states to introduce a system of mass education which
combined the concept of education and ethnic concept of nationalism. Smith believes that
a nation could not depend on previous cultural ties there was a need for a coherent
mythology and symbolism of community.

The ‘cultural revolution’ of the educator-state completed the economic and political revolutions
of the West and by that it conjoins with the ethnic concept of nationhood. (ibid:136). Where
‘nations-to-be’ could not be based on previous ethnic ties, there was still a need to forge out
whatever cultural components were available to form a coherent mythology and symbolism of a
community (Smith 1991: 41-42). All modern nations are influenced by both territorial and ethnic
principles. The first
The dual character of national identity Formally, citizenship is a legal identity regarding rights
and duties to a particular political unit. But along with this legal identity there grew up an
assumption that the will to participate was founded upon some attachment to the community
(Smith 1986:136). This implies that there is a dual attachment to the political community of the
nation. On the one hand there is a loyalty to the political unit, expressed in terms of citizenship
rights and obligations, and on the other hand, a sense of affiliation and solidarity with a cultural
community (ibid:151).