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Definition: nationalism from Philip's Encyclopedia

Ideology according to which all people owe a supreme loyalty to their nation and which holds that each nation should be embodied in a separate state. Nationalist sentiment, drawing upon and extolling a common culture, language and history, can be a powerful unifying force. With the possible exception of independence movements against colonialism and imperialism, nationalism is essentially conservative.


Nationalism

From Encyclopedia of Identity
The concept of nationalism is embedded in the everyday lives of citizens of modern nation-states. The pride that people feel for national accomplishments, the appeals of politicians to the national interests in justifying policies, and the symbols that nations use for self-identification (e.g., flags, national anthems, and monuments) are omnipresent and help create a national consciousness and national identity among diverse individuals. However, when examined in its historical, political, and social context, nationalism takes on a much more sophisticated, controversial, and ambiguous meaning that goes beyond the romantic view reflected in everyday notions of this concept. Although nationalism was essential to the formation of modern nation-states and can play an important role when societies face times of crisis, it can also lead people to view their nation as beyond reproach, justifying the use of force and violence to deal with real or perceived enemies. This entry provides an…
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Full text Article nationalism

From Continuum Encyclopedia of American Literature
In January 1820, British critic Sydney Smith asked “In the four quarters of the globe, who reads an American book? or goes to an American play? or looks at an American picture or statue?” An answer was not long in coming, for the publication of Washington IRVING 's The Sketch Book , James Fenimore…
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Full text Article NATIONALISM

From Encyclopedia of the Romantic Era, 1760-1850
The roots of the cultural and political nationalisms that are central to our modern sense of identity, and fundamental to the global system of states (even today, the discourses of postmodernism and globalization react to the Western nation-state as a cultural and political norm) are to be found in…
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Full text Article nationalism

From Cambridge Dictionary of Sociology
This is an ideology that holds that the nation is the natural basis of social life and that the best and most natural political units are states based on nations, that is, nation-states. Correspondingly, it gives rise to movements in which groups which define themselves as nations demand that they…
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Full text Article nationalism

From The Penguin Dictionary of Sociology
Nationalism is an IDEOLOGY based on the belief that a people with common characteristics such as language, religion or ethnicity constitutes a separate and distinctive political community. Nationalists attempt to preserve this social distinctiveness to protect the social benefits which follow from…
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Full text Article Nationalism

From World of Sociology, Gale
Reform nationalism seeks to redefine an existing...
Nationalism is an ideology based on a constructed group’s ethno-history which espouses political self-determination for that group . The idea of nationalism developed in the late eighteenth century with the French Revolution as the first major nationalist movement. It makes sense that the concept of…
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Full text Article Nationalism

From Encyclopedia of Diversity and Social Justice
The first extant use of the term nationalism appeared in the English-language lexicon in 1798 wherein its earliest uses refer to a love of nation ( OED, 2012 ). Initial uses of the term used nationalism to convey a sentiment and commitment toward one's nation, which was nearly interchangeable with…
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Full text Article nationalism

From The Columbia Encyclopedia
political or social philosophy in which the welfare of the nation-state as an entity is considered paramount. Nationalism is basically a collective state of mind or consciousness in which people believe their primary duty and loyalty is to the nation-state. Often nationalism implies national…
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Full text Article Nationalism

From Encyclopedia of Diversity and Social Justice
Nationalism refers to a sense of devotion to a nation and to the consciousness of seeking to promote a national culture or national interests. The sentiment of loyalty toward a nation is widespread and global. Nationalism is a powerful force that for centuries has brought people together. At the…
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Full text Article nationalism

From Encyclopedia of Social and Cultural Anthropology
Nationalism is the political doctrine which holds that humanity can be divided into separate, discrete units – nations – and that each nation should constitute a separate political unit – a state . The claim to nationhood usually invokes the idea of a group of people with a shared culture , often a…
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Full text Article Nationalism

From Key Concepts in Race and Ethnicity
Nationalism is more than a description of a political movement. It also describes a field of study concerned with the configuration of identity with contemporary state and society, including the provenance and implications of those identities, and so spans questions of sociology, history and…
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