The Diffusion of Nationalism: Some Historical and Sociological Perspectives

The term 'nationalism' is commonly used in three main ways. At the broadest level it refers to the whole process by which nations and nationstates have come into existence, lSrst in Western Europe and then across the globe. Atery often this is designated the 'nation-building' process in the literature, although it is as much concerned with state-building as national unincation.l A second meaning of the term 'nationalism' concerns one of this broad set of processes, the formation of national consciousness and solidarity. 'Nationalism' here is equated with 'national sentiment', a definition especially favoured by many historians and social psychologists.2 The third usage is also the most specilSc, and it confines the term 'nationalism' to the phenomenon of an ideological movement. According to this meaning, the analyst aims to account for the rise, course and effiects of ideological movements aiming at autonomy and identity amongcertain units of population, defined by at least a minority of its members as worthy of the status of 'nationhood'. Such population units Seature ideally a number of traits wllich mark them off from their neighbours. These usually include a common territory, one or rnore common elements of culture, a sense of solidarity and an absence of kinship ties. For a nationalist movement to arise, llowever, it is not necessary for all these features to co-exist in one unit; nor is their presence sufficient to constitute a nation. A modern nation, as opposed to any ethnic group, must also feature a comrnon system of the division of labour, and equal citizenship rights for all the members of the unit; and frequently we find the nationalist movement attempting to graft these modern features on to ancient and hierarchical ethnic