Anti-nationalism
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Anti-nationalism is the idea that nationalism is undesirable or even dangerous in one form or another, and sometimes, though less often, the idea that all nationalism is dangerous and unfavourable in all cases. Anti-nationalism is, to varying degrees, the antithesis of nationalism.
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[edit] Anti-nationalism as humanitarianism
Some anti-nationalists are humanitarians or humanists who pursue an idealist form of world community and self-identify as "world citizens" towards the ultimate goal of having all of humanity live in peace rather than perpetual conflict. This strain of anti-nationalism does not necessarily include being against the concept of separate countries, nation-states, or national boundaries. It includes at its forefront the idea that one must reject all forms of jingoism.
[edit] Anti-nationalism in left wing politics
Most of the anti-nationalists who believe that eventually the world should be one unified community (usually after a worldwide social revolution of some type) make a notable exception for the preservation of culture and often also identity politics by extension. These adherents also do not necessarily repudiate the concept of national boundaries as such. Their argument is that nationalism is unfavourable when it leads to things like chauvinism, jingoism and militarism, but in some senses can also be constructive when its inherent passion and dedication are applied to anti-oppression contexts, such as national liberation movements, ethnic nationalist resistance movements (such as the historic United States Black Panther Party), and other similar contexts. Interestingly, most Marxist-Leninists around the world, mostly considered by the politically unaffiliated to be towards the left of the mainstream, advocate this position or something close to it, and have historically done so.[citation needed]
[edit] Anti-nationalism that opposes all nationalism
There is a third strain of anti-nationalism that stands in opposition to both of the other strains. Confined almost entirely to the political Left, this strain argues that all nationalism, even ethnic nationalism among historically or currently oppressed minorities, is fundamentally reactionary. This strain of anti-nationalism also typically advocates the physical elimination of national boundaries and an instatement of what could be termed a single Earth of harmony, cooperation, and free unobstructed movement of people, ideas, and goods and services.
Variations on this theme were historically seen in the Trotskyist movement, where they were regarded by those outside that movement (and some inside as well) as elitist and/or "armchair," i.e., ignorant of the struggles going on in the world.[original research?] However, more recently, certain groups descended from the Maoist tradition of Marxism have moved towards this fiercely anti-nationalist stance in a different way than the Trotskyists, saying that although it may be a painful and unpopular position to hear, ultimately opposing all nationalism strengthens internationalism and the hoped-for future international working class solidarity culture.
Often, the mainstream-Left anti-nationalist proponents, including many Marxist-Leninists, will criticise these particular anti-nationalists as crypto-racists, charging that they are intentionally ignorant of separate cultures, the concept of nationalism to be used as part of resistance struggles despite a tendency in other contexts to divide and weaken; etc. But the anti-nationalists opposing all nationalism counter this stance, stating that their position encourages what they term "multi-racial unity" rather than the separate-but-equal approach they say most other leftists, including most other Marxist-Leninists advocate.
Because these adherents oppose nationalism so strongly on all levels, in order to retain some practical outlet through which to display their anti-racism, some are said to physically attack organised racialist groups like the Ku Klux Klan and the Neo-Nazi organisations as well as bringing up racism and race's links to class in contexts where most other anti-racists would avoid bringing the subject up. One group that has explicitly and publicly put forward this third strain of anti-nationalism for most of its history is the Progressive Labor Party, a transnational United States-based communist party.
There are also Left communist groups that appear to advance a similar position, but it is not always clear what those groups' positions are regarding identity, national liberation, or self-determination politics.
The more coherent strains of anarchism also claim to pursue an anti-nationalist political line similar to this third strain, evidenced in part by their self-proclaimed opposition to any cult of personality, and also by their claim to be further to the left than any of the Marxist-Leninist movements. However, in practice, some anarchists[who?] have been known to implicitly support identity politics and national self-determination.
The philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche can also be seen as opposing all forms of nationalism, though he opposed virtually every other form of social movement and ideology as well.
[edit] Islamic anti-nationalism
Some believe that Islam has traditionally been anti-nationalist. These proponents believe that racism and nationalism of various segments of the Middle East was abolished and outlawed when Muhammad took political power with Islam[citation needed]. Later the Caliphs ruled, and expanded a form of Islamic equality with the expanding transnational Caliphate state. According to this view, the anti-nationalism did not last throughout the history of the Muslim world. Instead, many Muslims have warred with each other over tribe or nation,[citation needed] which seems to be at odds with Islamic teaching.[citation needed] The anti-nationalist movements within Islam are based upon dictates of the Quran and Muhammads speech (Hadith). According to supporters of this view, Muhammad is known to have made many references to the ills of nationalism such as:
'People should give up their pride in nations because this is a coal from the coals of hell-fire. If they do not give this up Allah (swt) will consider them lower than a lowly dung worm which pushes itself through feces.' (recorded by Abu-Dawood and al-Tirmidhi)
Some Muslims argue that the roots of nationalism are found in the sin of pride by the devil shaytaan himself.[1]
Critics of this idea believe that religious nationalism is exactly the same as ethnic nationalism, thus the Islamic religion was no less nationalist than the states it destroyed. This idea may be faulty because, in some aspects, group feeling based on a shared ideology is quite different from group feeling based on a shared race or country of origin. One cannot change what race they belong to.
[edit] Academic anti-nationalists
- Lord Acton
- Arthur C. Clarke
- Albert Einstein
- T.H. White
- Freeman Dyson
- Karl Marx
- Carl Sagan
- John Zerzan
[edit] References
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[edit] See also
- Anationalism
- Anti-patriotism
- Anti-fascism
- Antifa
- Anti-German (ideology)
- Cosmopolitanism
- Global Citizens Movement
- Internationalism
- Proletarian internationalism
- Situationist Antinational
- The Patriot Game
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