Nationalism

Like culture, the terms nationalism, nationality, and nation are some of the most notoriously difficult to define. Although nationalism is derived from the past participle of the Latin verb nasci (meaning to be born) and the noun nationem (connoting breed or race), using etymological origins as the basis for understanding nationalism is not adequate. Most analysts agree that[Page 318] nationalism is a distinctly modern phenomenon. Whereas some focus on the ideas underlying a nationalist ideology, others stress the material conditions that acted as preconditions for the evolution of the nation-state. Geographers have drawn together the ideological, cultural, and territorial dimensions of nationalism.

Theorists interested in the ideas underlying nationalism focus on the emergence, during the late 18th century, of a notion that humans are autonomous, free-thinking individuals. With the diminishing role of the family, religious group, and/or community as the primary source of authority and identity, individuals moved toward a political ideal of their autonomy being best served through a larger cultural group—the nation. Those who have focused on the material changes that underpin the emergence of nationalism stress the link among modernity, the transformation of society from an agricultural one to an industrial one, and the nation. They argue that the “tidal wave of modernization” beginning in the 18th century necessitated the homogenization of cultures across space. Marxist thinkers have similarly focused on the material transformations of society and link the rise of nationalism with the development of a capitalist political economy. They suggest that nationalism is the response of peripheralized people to the uneven development of capitalism, where nationality is employed as a means of defense against core industrial economies.

By combining the cultural and ideological underpinnings of nationalism through the concept of an “imagined community,” Benedict Anderson effectively linked together cultural, economic, ideological, and political processes. He claimed that the advent of the printing press had the effect of connecting populations over wide geographic areas. As the market for Latin printed books gradually became saturated, vernacular languages began to be printed. However, not each and every dialect was printed; rather, similar vernaculars were assembled together through a standardization of grammar and syntax. Accordingly, these new print languages were fundamental to the emergence of national consciousness, first, because they geographically connected speakers of, for example, huge varieties of English, Spanish, and German and made known to them the existence of those who shared the same language group. Second, print capitalism fixed language by having the capacity to produce and reproduce the same text not only over space but also through time. Third, print languages gave priority to one dialect over another and thus awarded the chosen dialect political power (e.g., High German). Anderson's theory of nationalism has won widespread appeal both inside and outside geography. The cultural components that are important to establishing an imagined community of nationhood are outlined in the following sections.