what’s the difference between nationalism and patriotism?
In: 1503
A lot of the answers in this thread deal with connotations rather than the denotations of the words (ie national is liking your country too much and patriotism is liking it just enough).
The importance of the distinction comes from the difference between a country and a nation.
A nation is a people. It’s really a modern phenomenon, frequently dated to around the French Revolution. While the idea that people were “French” existed beforehand, it only really gained potency as an identity around then. Before then, and for a long time after, most people identified themselves by religion, by family, and by town. They were subjects of certain aristocrats and even a king, but they had no identification with them. In the 1800s the concept came into being that there was a shared identity for a people, that all were part of a nation.
It came into being both in nation states, like France, and nations without a state like Germany and Italy. Almost every state was forced to adopt it for its military utility in allowing for large, highly motivated armies. People will die for the idea of nation in droves, not so much for a king.
Now crucially there are two types of nationalism. There’s *Romantic nationalism* characteristic of Germany and the Balkans, which emphasizes the cultural and linguistic aspects of it, with the nation defined by blood. There is also *civic nationalism* which was characteristic of the United States and France, which emphasized citizenship as the basis for membership in the nation.
Romantic nationalism was most prevalent in nations without a state, for obvious reasons. It’s emphasis on blood descent also gave it a clear dark side. Groups with a different language and culture were not part of the nation and could never be, unless they gave those things up.
Romantic nationalism is the form of nationalism most commonly spoken of today outside of academic circles because civic nationalism has become virtually ubiquitous. Thus, nationalism means loving the nation, which is defined as an exclusive group defined by blood and culture, rejecting pluralism. Whereas a patriot loves their country, which is a much vaguer term with connotations towards civic nationalism.
An example that might be helpful would be that if someone were to be a (romantic) nationalist in America, that would be unpatriotic, in that it contradicts the civic nationalist value of pluralism. Civic nationalism means Americans are the people who are citizens, whereas to take a romantic nationalist position would be to say that there’s a nation of “real” Americans in existence regardless of the legal structure that should have a state for themselves exclusively.
Latest Answers