User:Rachelismo/Anti-colonial nationalism

Anti-colonial nationalism is an intellectual framework that preceded, accompanied and followed the process of decolonization in the mid-1900s. Benedict Anderson defined a nation as a socially constructed community that is co-created by individuals who imagine themselves as part of this group. He points to the New World as the cite of nationalism, which is defined by its imagination of an ahistorical identity that negates colonialism by definition.

Anti-colonial independence movements in Africa and Asia in the 1900s were led by individuals who had a set of shared identities and imagined a homeland without external rule. Anderson argues that the racism often experienced as a result of colonial rule and attributed to nationalism is rather due to theories of class.

Gellner’s theory of nationalism argues that nationalism works for combining one culture or ethnicity in one state, which leads to that state’s success. For Gellner, nationalism is ethnic, and state political parties should reflect the ethnic majority in the state. This definition of nationalism also contributes to anti-colonial nationalism, if one conceives of anti-colonial movements to be movements consisting of one specific ethnic group against an outside ruling party. Edward Said also saw nationalism as ethnic, at least in part, and argued that nationalist narratives often go hand in hand with racism, as communities define themselves in relation to the other.

Anti-colonial nationalism is not static, and is defined by different forms of nationalism depending on location. In the anti-colonial movement that took place in the Indian subcontinent, Mahatma Gandhi and his allies argued for a composite nationalism, not believing that nation should be defined by religious identity. Because of the British policies of divide and rule, they fomented divisions between groups that had never before been divided along those lines. However, Pakistan and India were partitioned on religious lines after independence, and those not within majority religious groups living in both countries continue to experience discrimination as a result.

Because of colonialism’s creation of state and country lines across ethnic, religious, linguistic and other historical boundaries, anti-colonial nationalism is largely related to land first. After independence, especially in countries with particularly diverse populations with historic enmity, there have been a series of smaller independence movements that are also defined by anti-colonialisms.

Philosopher and scholar Achille Mbembe argues that post-colonialism is a contradictory term, because colonialism is ever present. Those that participate in this intellectual practice envision a post-colonialism despite its being the defining frame for the world. This is the case with anti-colonialism as well. Anti-colonial nationalism as an intellectual framework persisted into the late 20th century with the resistance movements i n Soviet satellite states, and continues with independence movements in the Arab world in the 21st century. It is also one of the defining factors of stateless nationalism in Turkey, Morocco and Palestine.

Rationale

Nationalism as a theory and field of study is extensively explored on Wikipedia via the Nationalism article. Nationalism belongs to a series of 51 subcategories, which explores nationalism by continent, country, political practices, and a variety of theoretical frameworks. It does not, however, delve deeply into anti-colonial nationalism. Its main page, Nationalism, situates anti-colonial nationalism firmly in a European context, with only a slight mention of Africa and Asia. This is unfortunate, because anti-colonial praxis belongs to members of formerly colonized countries. Benedict Anderson's Imagined Communities is the most useful theory of nationalism writ large, but the article is lacking in different, non-Western perspectives on anti-colonial nationalism.

As I mentioned, the article on nationalism cites Benedict Anderson's theory of the imagined community extensively, but does not situate it within the paradigm of nationalism itself. Gellner's work on nationalism is also cited throughout this page, though not as extensively. My subpage will extend the entry and include post-colonial and anti-colonial thinkers and practitioners, especially those who problematize the anti-colonial project in action. I plan to cross-link this article to Types of Nationalism, where it is not included. There is a Post-colonial nationalism subpage, but anti-colonial nationalism has a project that differs slightly and needs to be examined in its own right. The talk page is not highly controversial for the article on different types of nationalism, but the nationalism page has been highlighted for its extreme controversy. I think it's likely that there will be a lot of pushback on the main page, but perhaps less on the nested pages.

Sources

1. Achille Mbembe, interviewed by O. Mongin, N. Lempereur, J.L. Schlegel, & J. Fletcher. (2006). What is postcolonial thinking? Esprit, (12), 117-133.

2. Gellner, E. (1983). Nations and nationalism. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.

3. Said, E. W. (1978). Orientalism. New York: Pantheon Books.

4. Fanon, F. (1963). The Wretched of the Earth. New York: Grove Press.

5. Anderson, B. R. O. (1991). Imagined communities: Reflections on the origin and spread of nationalism (Rev. and extended ed.). Verso.

6. Derrida, J. (1997). The Politics of Friendship (G. Collins, Trans.). New York: Verso.

7. Stavrakakis, y. and Chrysolaoras, N. (2006). (I Can't Get No) Enjoyment: Lacanian Theory and the Analysis of Nationalism. Psychoanalysis, Culture & Society 11, 144-163.

8. Spivak, G. C. (1988). Can the subaltern speak?. Basingstoke: Macmillan.

Model Articles

Civic Nationalism

This page is organized into the following order: development, core values, types, organizations and related concepts. I will follow the same order in my subpage extension. This isn't a long section, but it's about 3 paragraphs longer than the anti-colonial nationalism section, and it focuses on the philosophy of civic/liberal nationalism. It's a helpful example of what this section will look like after my edits hit the talk page.

Anti-capitalism

It's hard to begin an article on something that is very politically charged, like colonialism, as it situates the project in modern conceptions and manifestations of colonialism, essentially arguing that the colonial period is also now. Anti-capitalism is similarly politically charged. As a result the wording and organization of this article (including the controversial sub-header "wage slavery") shows a model of how articles on Wiki have to be framed in order to be supported. This talk page is flagged for controversy, and requires neutrality and copious citations to avoid a take down.