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A review by unisonlibrarian
Nations and Nationalism since 1780: Programme, Myth, Reality by Eric Hobsbawm
5.0
Published in 1990. The famous Marxist historian takes up the phenomenon of nationalism. He dates the central theme from 1780 since the concept of nationalism itself is a fairly recent adaptation of old tribal allegiances. In the middle ages and early modern period it was possible for serfs to feel an attachment to their laird or a king but the concept of a nation is relatively new.
Patrie has been manipulated throughout the ages and frequently by governments we would not call nationalist in themselves, but it has helped ruling classes to stoke ethnic tensions and keep the workers in their place. The first part of this book deals with what constitutes a nation and the various ethno-linguistic currents of nationalist movements and how they closely relate to nothing more than myth. The second part contests that nationalism has been a potent force particularly in the twentieth century but is waning. Here the author gives himself over to hope as much as reason seeing technological advances and state reductions coupled with unstoppable waves of migration as the precursor to the inevitable collapse of the nationalist ideology of historic imagined communities. Imagined insofar as they are a curious mixture political construction and false sovereignty. Common language or religion mixed with an ethnic cohesion or historical experience present only an opportunity to create these social artefacts we call nations. From here is produced the imagined community. It was necessary to make Italy before Italians could be made.
Hobsbawm sees nationalism as chauvinism and an opportunity for the reactionary elements in society to seize power. It is this assumption of perversity that runs through the book and gives it its fierce critical element. Nationalism has done little good for the people of the world, and will one day hopefully have its opportunities for damage reduced. Given that the book was written in the aftermath of Soviet collapse there is an element of wishful thinking in the hypothesis. It could be argued that nationalism has grown since 1990, especially in the Balkans where new states had to be created to halt genocide and the general slip of the United States to nationalistic fascism. Hobsbawm does say that the collapse of nationalism will take a long time, and I hope eventually that he is right. For now, although this is a detailed and interesting history of an ideology in which the conclusion is at best a work in progress.
Patrie has been manipulated throughout the ages and frequently by governments we would not call nationalist in themselves, but it has helped ruling classes to stoke ethnic tensions and keep the workers in their place. The first part of this book deals with what constitutes a nation and the various ethno-linguistic currents of nationalist movements and how they closely relate to nothing more than myth. The second part contests that nationalism has been a potent force particularly in the twentieth century but is waning. Here the author gives himself over to hope as much as reason seeing technological advances and state reductions coupled with unstoppable waves of migration as the precursor to the inevitable collapse of the nationalist ideology of historic imagined communities. Imagined insofar as they are a curious mixture political construction and false sovereignty. Common language or religion mixed with an ethnic cohesion or historical experience present only an opportunity to create these social artefacts we call nations. From here is produced the imagined community. It was necessary to make Italy before Italians could be made.
Hobsbawm sees nationalism as chauvinism and an opportunity for the reactionary elements in society to seize power. It is this assumption of perversity that runs through the book and gives it its fierce critical element. Nationalism has done little good for the people of the world, and will one day hopefully have its opportunities for damage reduced. Given that the book was written in the aftermath of Soviet collapse there is an element of wishful thinking in the hypothesis. It could be argued that nationalism has grown since 1990, especially in the Balkans where new states had to be created to halt genocide and the general slip of the United States to nationalistic fascism. Hobsbawm does say that the collapse of nationalism will take a long time, and I hope eventually that he is right. For now, although this is a detailed and interesting history of an ideology in which the conclusion is at best a work in progress.