Anti-nationalism

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Anti-nationalism is the idea that nationalism is undesirable or even dangerous in one form or another, and sometimes, though less often, the idea that all nationalism is dangerous and unfavourable in all cases. Anti-nationalism is, to varying degrees, the antithesis of nationalism.

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[edit] Anti-nationalism as humanitarianism

Some anti-nationalists are humanitarians or humanists who pursue an idealist form of world community and self-identify as "world citizens" towards the ultimate goal of having all of humanity live in peace rather than perpetual conflict. This strain of anti-nationalism does not necessarily include being against the concept of separate countries, nation-states, or national boundaries. It includes at its forefront the idea that one must reject all forms of jingoism. The Indian poet Rabindranath Tagore is an example of a thinker who rejected nationalism on humanitarian grounds [1].

[edit] Anti-nationalism in left wing politics

Most of the anti-nationalists who believe that eventually the world should be one unified community (usually after a worldwide social revolution of some type[citation needed]) make a notable exception for the preservation of culture and often also identity politics by extension. These adherents also do not necessarily repudiate the concept of national boundaries as such. Their argument is that nationalism is unfavourable when it leads to things like chauvinism, jingoism and militarism, but in some senses can also be constructive when its inherent passion and dedication are applied to anti-oppression contexts, such as national liberation movements, ethnic nationalist resistance movements (such as the historic United States Black Panther Party), and other similar contexts[citation needed].

[edit] Anti-nationalism that opposes all nationalism

There is a third strain of anti-nationalism that stands in opposition to both of the other strains. Confined almost entirely to the political left, this strain argues that all nationalism, even ethnic nationalism among historically or currently oppressed minorities, is fundamentally reactionary. This strain of anti-nationalism also typically advocates the physical elimination of national boundaries and an instatement of what could be termed a single Earth of harmony, cooperation, and free unobstructed movement of people, ideas, and goods and services.

Variations on this theme were historically seen in the Trotskyist movement, where they were regarded by those outside that movement (and some inside as well) as elitist and/or "armchair," i.e., ignorant of the struggles going on in the world.[original research?] However, more recently, certain groups descended from the Maoist tradition of Marxism have moved towards this fiercely anti-nationalist stance in a different way than the Trotskyists, saying that although it may be a painful and unpopular position to hear, ultimately opposing all nationalism strengthens internationalism and the hoped-for future international working class solidarity culture.

Often, the mainstream-Left anti-nationalist proponents, including many Marxist-Leninists, will criticise these particular anti-nationalists as crypto-racists, charging that they are intentionally ignorant of separate cultures, the concept of nationalism to be used as part of resistance struggles despite a tendency in other contexts to divide and weaken; etc. But the anti-nationalists opposing all nationalism counter this stance, stating that their position encourages what they term "multi-racial unity" rather than the separate-but-equal approach they say most other leftists, including most other Marxist-Leninists advocate.

Because these adherents oppose nationalism so strongly on all levels, in order to retain some practical outlet through which to display their anti-racism, some are said to physically attack organised racialist groups like the Ku Klux Klan and the Neo-Nazi organisations as well as bringing up racism and race's links to class in contexts where most other anti-racists would avoid bringing the subject up. One group that has explicitly and publicly put forward this third strain of anti-nationalism for most of its history is the Progressive Labor Party, a transnational United States-based communist party.

There are also Left communist groups that appear to advance a similar position, but it is not always clear what those groups' positions are regarding identity, national liberation, or self-determination politics.

The more coherent strains of anarchism also claim to pursue an anti-nationalist political line similar to this third strain, evidenced in part by their self-proclaimed opposition to any cult of personality, and also by their claim to be further to the left than any of the Marxist-Leninist movements. However, in practice, some anarchists[who?] have been known to implicitly support identity politics and national self-determination. Anarchism has developed a critique of nationalism that focuses on its role in justifying and consolidating state power and domination. Through its unifying goal it 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". [2]

In his "Aphorisms on the Wisdom of Life", Arthur Schopenhauer rejected nationalism,seeing it as an abandonment of personal identity. [3] The philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche can also be seen as opposing all forms of nationalism, though he opposed virtually every other form of social movement and ideology as well.

[edit] Islamic anti-nationalism

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Some[by whom?] believe that Islam has traditionally been anti-nationalist. These proponents believe that racism and nationalism of various segments of the Middle East was abolished and outlawed when Muhammad took political power with Islam[citation needed]. Later the Caliphs ruled, and expanded a form of Islamic equality with the expanding transnational Caliphate state. According to this view, the anti-nationalism did not last throughout the history of the Muslim world. Instead, many Muslims have warred with each other over tribe or nation,[citation needed] which seems to be at odds with Islamic teaching.[citation needed] The anti-nationalist movements within Islam are based upon dictates of the Quran and Muhammads speech (Hadith). According to supporters of this view[by whom?], Muhammad is known to have made many references to the ills of nationalism such as:

'People should give up their pride in nations because this is a coal from the coals of hell-fire. If they do not give this up Allah (swt) will consider them lower than a lowly dung worm which pushes itself through feces.' (recorded by Abu-Dawood and al-Tirmidhi)

Further in his last sermon to his people at Mount Arafat on 632CE (10 AH) he stated:

All mankind is from Adam and Eve, an Arab has no superiority over a non-Arab nor a non-Arab has any superiority over an Arab; also a white has no superiority over a black nor a black has any superiority over white except by piety and good action.

Some Muslims[by whom?] argue that the roots of nationalism are found in the sin of pride by the devil (Shaytaan) himself.[4]

Critics of this idea believe that religious nationalism is exactly the same as ethnic nationalism, thus the Islamic nation was no less nationalist than the states it conquered.

[edit] Academic anti-nationalists

[edit] References

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Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (June 2007)
  1. ^ Landscapes of Hope: Anti-Colonial Utopianism in America by Dohra Ahmad. Oxford University Press, 2009 (pgs. 94-6)
  2. ^ The Continuing Appeal of Nationalism by Fredy Perlman.Detroit, Black & Red Publishers, 1985.
  3. ^ The Morality of Nationalism, edited by Robert McKim and Jeff McMahan.Oxford University Press US, 1997 (pg. 121).
  4. ^ Muttaqun OnLine - Prejudice: According to Quran and Sunnah

[edit] See also

v • d • e
Nationalism
By type
By manifestation
v • d • e
Supranationalism / World government
Theory
International bodies
Regional bodies
International
parliaments
International courts
Law and treaties
History
Proposals and
concepts
Movements
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