Nationalism in Canada

Definition of Nationalism

The Canada social science dictionary [1] provides the following meaning of Nationalism: The concept of nationalism like the concept of nation has two quite distinct meanings. Common to both definitions is the idea that it is the nation which provides people with their primary form of belonging and that these nations should be self-governing. People of the world are thus located within nations, identify with these nation states and political activity is organized around these nation states. Michael Ignatieff distinguishes two forms of nationalism. First, ‘civic nationalism’, meaning that all citizens within a nation state are treated as equal and share political values. Within this sense of nationalism one would find pluralistic communities acting as one and treating citizens with equality. It is this sense of nationalism which many thought was emerging after narrow religious and ethnic struggles of the 19th and early 20th century. The second sense of nationalism revolves around the equation of ‘people’ with the nation state. In this formulation the nation or the people exists prior to the state and in a sense creates the state. In these communities then the nation and sense of national identification flows from a common characteristic (usually ethnic heritage) and thus excludes others. This form of nationalism may be less tolerant of difference and can be found in the German nation state where citizenship continues to be defined in terms of ethnicity. The concern that nation states and thus nationalism are increasingly being organized around ethnic (or other) characteristics are frequently described as the tribalization of the modern world. Tension between the two meanings of nationalism can be found in discussions around Quebec’s right to self-determination; is civic nationalism at work or is it ‘people’ nationalism? See: TRIBALISM /IDENTITY POLITICS / POSTMODERN related information in this encyclopedia, in the legal dictionary or in the world encyclopedia of law.

Nationalism: Resources

Notes and References

1. Drislane, R., & Parkinson, G. (2016). (Concept of) Nationalism. Online dictionary of the social sciences. Open University of Canada

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This entry was last updated: February 5, 2017

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