Nationalism Keywords

Racialism

A belief that racial divisions are politically significant, either because races should live apart or because they possess different qualities.

Nation

A collection of people bound together by shared values and traditions, a common language, religion and history, and usually occupying the same geographical area.

Xenophobia

A fear or hatred of foreigners (pathological ethnocentrism).

Ethnic nationalism

A form of nationalism that is fuelled primarily by a keen sense of ethnic distinctiveness and the desire to preserve it.

Cultural nationalism

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

Jingoism

A mood of nationalist enthusiasm and public celebration provoked by military expansion or imperial conquest.

Community

A principle or sentiment based on the collective identity or a social group; bonds of comradeship, loyalty and duty.

Ethnicity

A sentiment of loyalty towards a particular population, cultural group or territorial area; bonds that are cultural rather than racial.

Nation-state

A sovereign political association within which citizenship and nationality overlap; one nation within a single state.

Pan-nationalism

A style of nationalism dedicated to unifying a disparate people either through expansionism or political solidarity.

Free trade

A system of trading between states that is unrestricted by tariffs or other forms of protectionism.

Internationalism

A theory or practice of politics that is based on transnational or global cooperation; the belief that nations are artificial and unwanted formations.

Tribalism

Group behaviour characterised by insularity and exclusivity, typically fuelled by hostility towards rival groups.

Patriotism

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

Citizenship

Membership of a state; a relationship between the individual and the state based on reciprocal rights and responsibilities.

Supranationalism

The ability of bodies with transnational or global jurisdictions to impose their will on nation-States.

Militarism

The achievement of ends by military means, or the extension of military ideas, values and practices to civilian society.

Primordialism

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

Imperialism

The extension of control by one country over another, whether by overt political means or economic domination.

Thatcherism

The free-market/strong state ideological stance associated with a Thatcher.

Separatism

The quest to secede from a larger political formation with a view to establishing an independent state.

Colonialism

The theory or practice of establishing control over a foreign territory, usually by settlement or economic domination.

Constructivism

The theory that meaning is imposed on the external world by the beliefs and assumptions we hold; reality is a social construct.

Chauvinism

Uncritical and unreasoned dedication to a cause or group, typically based on a belief in its superiority, as in 'national chauvinism' or 'male chauvinism'.