User talk:Mabandalone/Drafts/Nationalism

Lead section
Rewrote first paragraph. The initial definition of nationalism was incomplete, unsourced, and grammatically poor. The concluding sentence about patriotism included a poor and partial definition of patriotism, which in any case was unnecessary (a link to 'patriotism' would have sufficed.) — Preceding unsigned comment added by Mabandalone (talk • contribs) 00:32, 4 November 2016 (UTC)

Modernist vs perennialist interpretations of how modernity affected nations
The modernist interpretation sees the relationship of nations to modernity as :nations as modern creations that use preexisting ethnic realities as raw material for myth making. The pereniallist / historicist view sees nations as already existing conceptions in peoples minds of poltical communities, that were then transformed into modern nations because religious and dynastic rule loast legitimacy, and popular rule was elevated. Therefore nations, which had always existed, were now given heightened force and authority because the people were given heightened force and authority.

Motyl bits
From a political or sociological perspective, there are two main perspectives on the origins and basis of nationalism. One is the primordialist perspective that describes nationalism as a reflection of the ancient and perceived evolutionary tendency of humans to organize into distinct groupings based on an affinity of birth. The other is the modernist perspective that describes nationalism as a recent phenomenon that requires the structural conditions of modern society in order to exist.



The adoption of national identity in terms of historical development has commonly been the result of a response by influential groups unsatisfied with traditional identities due to inconsistency between their defined social order and the experience of that social order by its members, resulting in a situation of anomie that nationalists seek to resolve. This anomie results in a society or societies reinterpreting identity, retaining elements that are deemed acceptable and removing elements deemed unacceptable, in order to create a unified community. This development may be the result of internal structural issues or the result of resentment by an existing group or groups towards other communities, especially foreign powers that are or are deemed to be controlling them.



Motyl page numbers used

 * 251, 253, 262, 268, 269, 271 - 277, 508 - 510