Data Bases • Custom Term Papers • Free Term Papers • Free Research Papers • Free Essays • Free Book Reports • Plagiarism? Links • Top 100 Term Paper Sites • Top 25 Essay Sites • Top 50 Essay Sites • Search 97,000 Papers @ DirectEssays.com • Search 101,000 Papers @ ExampleEssays.com • Search 90,000 Papers @ MegaEssays.com Free Essays • Term Paper Sites • Chuck III's Free Essays • Free College Essays • TermPaperSites.com • My Term Papers • Get Free Essays • Essay World • Planet Papers	Search Lots of Essays Back to Subjects - Political Science What is a nation What is a nation A nation is said to exist when it could traced its origins through the state, in which it associate itself with, histories. Additionally, the cultural elites must be established and well-versed in writing and speaking the national language. There must also be a valid reason for its claim on a certain territory. It is only when these three requirements are fulfilled will the international community consider their claim for a nation (Hobsbawm, 1990: 37). Disagreements, however, tend to arise in the political community over the definition of a nation. This essay will try to list out the different approaches employed in defining a nation starting from a nation being a natural cultural entity to it being politically and psychologically formed. It will then continue to discuss briefly the role that a nation plays and also its future. The first approach in defining a nation looks from a sociological perspective. Sociologists began by studying the patterns of human behaviour over a period of time. They realised that humans are not conditioned to live in isolation. Without human contact, we would just revert to animal behaviour. Therefore, human beings often seek each other company. This pattern of behaviour is affirmed by Ronald Dawkins (1989) (Heywood, 1999: 104). He concluded that humans tend to establish social networks between themselves no matter where they are. The emergence of social network lays the foundation for the formation of a nation as it shows the solidarity shared by the society. Even though the above argument show the formation of social ties between groups, it did not mention how solidarity is being maintained. Gellner try to fill in this gap by introducing the concept of ‘will and consent’ (Gellner, 1983: 53). The importance of this concept could be illustrated with the following illustration. A man is made to feel as though he has a choice in deciding his affiliation to a community. The question on why and how he makes his choice is irrelevant. It is only when he consented to participate in the community will he readily conform to the community norms and values. Society cultural consciousness would then play an important role in dictating the speed of his consent. According to Herder, people become aware of their heritage when they read or listen to myths, legends and even songs. By doing so, the community captures the Volgeist or the spirit of the people. Language is thus seen as an important medium in spreading a community’s culture as it contains people traditions and historical memories. Therefore a nation is defined as the unification of people through the sharing of the same cultural heritage (Heywood, 1997: 105). This approach has been met with several criticisms. Firstly, according to Gellner the definition used is too wide (Gellner, 1983: 53). By adopting the above criteria, any social network with the same cultural norms and values are entitled to call themselves as a nation. This would include clubs or any other associations. Another problem encountered by this definition is the impossibility of limiting cultural boundaries. In addition to that Herder’s claim of the unification of the people through a common language could be dismissed as most nations have several national languages due to its multicultural population. Switzerland, for example, has three national languages and a multicultural population and yet she is still defined as a single nation. Hence, Gellner argued that in reality nations are not naturally formed through the cultural histories of the people but instead are formed by the will of the people who manipulates the cultural histories to suit their motives (Gellner, ibid: 53). In other words, cultures are just the by-product of people’s will and might not even reflect the community real histories. Language for example changes with every generation as people adapt the language to suit their changing lifestyle (Hobsbawm in Heywood, 1997: 107). This shows that cultures are not stagnant but dynamic in nature. As a result of that, the political approach focuses instead on people’s loyalties to political ideologies. Political elites try to divert people’s attachment to their respective cultures by creating a new culture for the nation in which the society could identify to. They do so by stressing the uniqueness of their nations origins and that as a nation they share a common goal. The knowledge of being ‘different’ from other communities cultivates a sense of belonging to the nation. People would then be encouraged to invest more time and energy into the nation. This process is known as ‘ethnic grouping’ (Smith, 1981: 56). A nation is thus defined by the political approach as a body of citizens voicing out their political view using the state as a tool (Hobsbawm, 1990: 18-19). Everyone is seen as an equal and there is mass participation in the governing of the nation. A sense of democracy seemed to prevail as choices are debated concerning a certain territory. Revolutionaries tend to follow this approach as it represents the common interest of the people against a particular interest (Hobsbawm, ibid: 20). An example could be taken from the French revolution whereby the ‘French nation’ rose up against the monarchy (Heywood, 1997: 107). In relation to that, the political approach emphasizes the territory a nation holds. Revolutionaries and nationalists often embarked on their campaigns to claim an area of land in which they could call a state. This is because if their claim could gain international recognition, they would be able to govern the state independently. Retaliation is also made possible if it is being attack by another state. Finally, the psychological approach in defining a nation. The main authority for this approach is Benedict Anderson. According to Anderson, the notion of a nation exists in the people minds or to put it more aptly in their imaginations. It acts as a symbol of identity. Hence, the term ‘imagined communities’. A nation is ‘imagined’ as it is impossible to know and meet each member of the nation even though there exists a limit to the amount of people in a nation. Despite this limitation, the ‘community’ believed that everyone shared the same values. It is with this belief that people try to achieve the freedom of governing themselves through a sovereign state (Anderson, 1983: 6). Marxists supported Anderson claim that nations are a figment of people’s imagination. However, they asserted that the idea of a nation is just fed by the bourgeoisie to keep the masses complacent due to the occurrence of rapid social mobility. The ruling parties would create new ideology based on existing cultures to legitimise their rapid succession to power and also to provide a sense of continuity (Smith, 1991: 356). Revolutionary movements would be averted as the proletariats loyalty to the nation precedes loyalty to the social class. It must, however, be mentioned that Marx himself did not believe in the importance of a nation. He assumed that a nation is just a stepping-stone in human history towards a classless, communist society (Heywood, 1997: 107-108). The emergence of the new nation-state could be attributed to the enlightenment period experienced by the society. During this period, things that were once held sacred such as religion and myths are abandoned in favour for science. Weber described this phenomenon as the age of rationalisation. With the decline of religion, people do not share common values anymore. Society becomes fragmented with the disintegration of solidarity among the population. As a result, nations try to take over the role of religion in unifying the population. It does so by providing a common goal for the people, which is to maintain the continuity of the nation (Anderson, 1983: 10). Secondly, a nation helps in the economic development of the state. It does so by shaping the state policies regarding its economy. For example, it might advocate the interventionist approach whereby the state intervenes in every economic decision. The pursuant of personal economic gain is weighed against national interest. This approach is practised in Singapore (Hobsbawm, 1990:25-26). Additionally, a nation should maintain and improve the standard of living of the people through the provision of public and merit goods. Despite the advantages cited in the above paragraphs, the future for a nation to obtain sovereignty even within its boundaries looked bleak. Advances in technology especially in the field of warfare prevent the dream of a sovereign nation from becoming a reality (Heywood, 1999: 107). This is due to the unpredictable and harmful effects that are inflicted to the world with each usage of nuclear warfare. International bodies are thus formed to control a nation right from engaging into a nuclear warfare. International bodies might also override a nation authority in regards to environmental threat to the world. The justification for this is to ensure the survival of the human species over any economic or political gain (Heywood, ibid: 108-109). On the economic front, nations role in regulating the economy will diminish and eventually disappear. Globalisation has erased the boundaries of trade. Multinationals and international corporations have a considerable amount of influence in the economy. There are no barriers to trade and there is an assumption of perfect mobility of the product. Markets are allowed to regulate themselves with the price mechanism acting as signallers to both the producers and the consumers. In conclusion, it is difficult to define a nation as it encompasses within it differing aspect such as cultural and also political. Joseph Stalin described it best by defining ‘a nation is a historically evolved state community of language, territory, economic life and psychological makeup manifested in a community of culture’ (Stalin in Hobsbawm, 1990: 5). The nation plays a role in directing or administering the states affair in everyday life but eventually the role will disappear due to the globalisation of the world. Bibliography: BIBLIOGRAPHY Anderson, Benedict Imagine Communities (revised edition) 1983 Verso, London Gellner, Ernest Nations and Nationalism (1983) Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press) Heywood, Andrew Political Theory-An Introduction (2 edition) 1999 Macmillan Press Ltd Heywood, Andrew Politics (1997) Macmillan Press Ltd Hobsbawm, E.J Nations and Nationalism Since 1780 -Programmes, Myth, Reality)- (1990) Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Smith, Anthony The Ethnic Revival (1981) Cambridge University Press Smith, Anthony ‘The nation invented, imagined, reconstructed’ Millenium: Journal of International Studies Volume 20 (1991) 353-368 Word Count: 1629
Copyright © 1998-2008 College Term Papers, INC All Rights Reserved. DMCA Notifications and Requests