Global Politics--Chapter 7

Volksgeist

(German) Literally, the spirit of the people; the organic identity of a people revealed in their culture and particularly their language.

Diaspora

(from the Hebrew) literally, dispersion; implies displacement or dispersal by force, but it also used to refer to the transnational community that arose as a result of such dispersal.

Hybridity

A condition of social and cultural mixing; the term derives from cross-breeding between genetically unalike plants or animals.

Ethnic cleansing

A euphemism that refers to the forcible expulsion of an ethnic group or groups in the cause of racial purity, often involving genocidal violence.

Xenophobia

A fear or hatred for foreigners; pathological ethnocentrism.

Civic nationalism

A form of nationalism that emphasizes political allegiance based on a vision of a community of equal citizens, allowing respect for ethnic and cultural diversity that does not challenge core civic values.

Ethnic nationalism

A form of nationalism that emphasizes the organic and usually ethnic unity of the nation and aims to protect or strengthen its national 'spirit' and cultural sameness.

Cultural nationalism

A form of nationalism that places primary emphasis on the regeneration of the nation as a distinctive civilization rather than on self-determination.

Race

A group of people who (supposedly) share the same physical or biological characteristics, based on common descent.

Ethnic group

A group of people who share a common cultural and historical identity, typically linked to a belief in common descent.

Refugee

A person compelled to leave his or her country because their life security or freedom have been threatened.

Internally displaced person

A person forced to flee from his or her habitual residence by the effects of armed conflict, generalized violence or national or man-made disaster.

Immigration

A process whereby non-nationals move into a country for the purpose of settlement.

Emigration

A process whereby people leave their native country, to settle in another.

Pan-nationalism

A style of nationalism dedicated to unifying a disparate people through either expansionism or political solidarity ('pan' means all or every).

Chauvinism

An irrational belief in the superiority or dominance of one's own group or people; it can be applied to a nation, an ethnic group, a gender and so on.

Patriotism

Literally, love of one's fatherland; a psychological attachment of loyalty to one's nation or country.

Remittances

Monies earned or acquired by non-nationals that are transferred back to their country of origin.

Anti-Semitism

Prejudice or hatred towards Jewish people; Semites are by tradition the descendants of Shem, son of Noah.

Militarism

The achievement of ends by military means; or the spread of military ideas and values throughout civilian society.

Brain drain

The emigration of trained or talented individuals from their country of origin to another country, sometimes called 'human capital flight'.

Lump of Labour fallacy

The fallacious belief that there is a fixed amount of work to be done, suggesting that unemployment levels are determined simply by how work is shared out of amongst the available labour force.

Migration

The movement of a person or group of persons, either across an international boarder, or within a state.

National self-determination

The principle that the nation is a sovereign entity; self-determination implies both national independence and democratic rule.

Assimilation

The process through which immigrant communities lose their cultural distinctiveness by adjusting to the values, allegiances and lifestyles of the host society.

Human trafficking

The recruitment and harbouring of persons for the purpose of exploitation, brought about by the threat or use of coercion or force.

Primordialism

The theory that nations are ancient and deep-rooted, fashioned variously out of psychology, culture and biology.