Historians and theoreticians of nationalism and nationalist movements are perplexed by the fact that so much of what nationalists believe is evidently not the case. One example of this concerns the ontological or metaphysical status of the nation: whether nations as a form of political community are in the very nature of things or whether they are rather a recent way of imagining the political community.I question the meaning terms such as 'natural', 'imagined' and 'objective'/'subjective' have when we are talking (...) about the nation as the foundation of political legitimacy. Ido this by explaining what meaning those terms have in the philosophical reconstruction of interpretation and communication by the American philosopher Donald Davidson. (shrink)

Japanese nationalism after World War II emerged out of the U. S. occupation of Japan. Rather than oppressing nationalist sentiment, the U. S. occupation administration nurtured the sense of national uniqueness and continuity in Japan and helped absolve Japanese colonial guilt and war responsibility. This U S. strategy toward Japan is best symbolized by the way the emperor system was reconstructed as part of the American reign in East Asia. Although it sometimes reveals its anti-American emotion, Japanese nationalism is in (...) complicity with the US. hegemony in East Asia, in such a way that Japan’s subjugation to US. policies is further intensified as its nationalism manifests more jingoistic tendencies. Perhaps we should find an intimation of today’s global complicity of the peripheral state with the super-state in this entanglement. (shrink)

La référence au Fichte du Discours à la nation allemande est présente dans la double genèse de la social-démocratie allemande, chez Marx-Engels, et chez Lassalle. Cet article revient d’abord sur un débat trop peu connu sur la consubstantialité entre idéalisme fichtéen, unification et renforcement de l’Allemagne impériale, et social-démocratie. Celle-ci, plutôt louée par Jaurès dès 1891, est critiquée par Andler pour qui l’Allemagne, en 1918 comme après, demeure un Reich (et non une république) où la révolution, qu’elle soit bourgeoise ou (...) prolétarienne, est impossible. On examine ensuite la différence, chez Engels puis chez Kautsky, entre leur appréciation du nationalisme tchèque (perçu comme opposition à la domination austro-germanique) et celle du nationalisme polonais (confronté à la Russie), pour mettre en question qu’y soit en jeu « le seul intérêt de la révolution » (Engels), sans égard à celui des puissances « centrales » de 1914. On suit enfin les traces du débat Andler-Jaurès dans un clivage récurrent parmi les socialistes français sur la question allemande et européenne : Guerre d’Espagne, Munich, Collaboration et Résistance, CED, Traité de Maastricht et Constitution européenne. En 1989-1990, la « chute du Mur » et l’unification allemande résultent d’une poussée nationaliste qui, jointe à la dislocation du système soviétique, s’est particulièrement répercutée sur une Yougoslavie détruite sous l’effet d’une politique européenne d’inspiration largement allemande. (shrink)

This article is related with the linguistic conflict in Belgium and the role of the parties and parties factions in the Parliament during the period 1873-1914. As a contribution to the history of the belgian Parliament, it illustrates the way the flemish claims for more autonomy were transformed in complex agreements in which non-linguistic matters, related to the system of cleavages of the belgian society, somestimes played a crucial role.

In this study an attempt has been made to understand nationalism, notably as the particular political conviction by which the realm of public and civic concern is required to coincide with a culturally and ethnically specified nationality. While exploring the idea of a nation state in its varying developments during the past few centuries, two interpretations are discovered, the revolutionary and the romantic understanding of a nation. This leads, through analysis, to contrast the specific modes of nationalistic logic to which (...) both of them gave rise. The investigation of Jacobin nationalism leads the author to assume the existence of a secret link between the Rousseauian conception of absolute democracy and popular sovereignty, on the one hand, and the rise of nationalism, on the other hand. In conclusion, the author argues for the necessity of a different, pluralistic conception of democracy in order to prevent national feelings from degenerating into crude nationalism. (shrink)

La lutte contre le pouvoir colonial britannique s’acheva en 1947 par l’accès de l’Inde au statut de nation indépendante. Hommes et femmes indiennes participèrent à la résistance qui commença à la fin du xixe siècle. En se centrant sur la participation des femmes au mouvement nationaliste, cet article examine les formes de mobilisations féminines à la fois violentes et non-violentes. Il analyse en outre la combinaison des motifs religieux, féministes et nationalistes chez les femmes actives dans la première moitié du (...) xxe siècle. Les sources utilisées sont les mémoires et autobiographies, écrites en anglais ou en bengali, ainsi que la presse – en anglais, hindi ou bengali – et les rapports de police. (shrink)

ABSTRACT: This text views the case of Quebec nationalism from the vantage point of the debate between Habermas and Taylor on this question. This case highlights the problem of articulating the sphere of civic rights, whose claims are universalist, to that of culture and collective identity, whose essence is particularist. It seems that the multinational context of the Quebec-Canada confrontation needs to be approached in a manner that cannot be fulfilled by a strict proceduralism and a purely formal universalism. The (...) Habermasian position will thus be criticized for these reasons, while Taylor’s stance, which contemplates the integration of material considerations in a dialogue open to ideological alterity, will be taken into account so as to make up for the shortcomings of the former. (shrink)

The problem of the nation is articulated as the philosophical problem of the relation between the political and the non-political in the context of modernity. When the political relevance of traditional non-political bonds is removed, a new cohesion needs to be found between free and equal individuals. Three solutions are possible. The liberal-universalistic solution claims that there is no other source of unity than the political process itself; it finds the ingredients of political loyalty in the common rational agreement upon (...) principles of democracy. The nationalistic solution is an attempt to find those ingredients in particularistic allegiances of a non-political, ethnic-cultural nature. Both solutions, present in the old French-German debate on the nation, as well as in recent debates between liberalism and communitarianism, are criticized. Their revival in recent times is explained by the fact that they both represent an erosion of the political sphere that is characteristic for a post-ideological society. The first neglects the specific determinateness of the political, reducing it to the internationality of the market or to the moralism of rights. The second neglects the political nature of democratic legitimation by founding it on the claim to embody a particular culture or „Volk”. — In a discussion with Sandel, it is agreed that the political dimension needs a determinate form of collective identity and a non-contractual form of foundation. This form should not be situated however in the imaginary givenness of an ethnic-cultural context, but in the common undertaking of the moral task of institutionalizing ideals of liberty. These ideals are not an abstract set of principles, but are necessarily mediated by a particular common heritage or a political culture. Finally it is shown that such interpretation of nation or national citizenship is parallel to recent philosophical endorsement of ideals of civic republicanism or constitutional patriotism. (shrink)

Il faut saluer, je pense, et avec bonheur, la parution récente de l’ouvrage Patriotisme constitutionnel et nationalisme. Sur Jürgen Habermas de Frédérick-Guillaume Dufour, un jeune auteur québécois qui semble plein de promesses. L’ouvrage s’inscrit à l’intérieur d’une vague de fond observable depuis quelques années déjà chez les chercheurs universitaires, tant au Canada qu’au Québec, qui s’intéressent de plus en plus aux travaux récents du philosophe allemand sur le droit et la démocratie délibérative, et tentent d’en tirer les implications pour (...) l’analyse, la compréhension, voire la mise en question, aussi bien du nationalisme québécois que du nationalisme canadienLe livre est d’autant plus pertinent qu’il n’existe pas, dans la littérature produite jusqu’ici, d’ouvrage systématique en langue française consacré à l’application des réflexions politiques de Habermas à la situation canadienne et québécoise. Il s’agit là, sauf erreur, du premier ouvrage d’une certaine ampleur consacré à la question. (shrink)

Le but de notre article est de montrer que les écrits politiques récents de Jürgen Habermas permettent de jeter un éclairage neuf sur la situation politique du Québec. Après avoir rappelé les principaux traits de sa conception du nationalisme à la lumière de sa théorie délibérative de la démocratie, nous relevons les forces et les faiblesses de sa position. Nous montrons que ses forces consistent à rendre plausible l'idée que la reconnaissance des identités collectives n'est pas incompatible avec le (...) système des droits individuels et que le recours à des droits collectifs n'est ni utile, ni nécessaire. Ses faiblesses, quant à elles, consistent à sous-évaluer l'État-nation comme idéal politique légitime pour les nations minoritaires et, conséquemment, dans la supposition que leur intégration à des systèmes fédératifs ouverts est l'unique voie raisonnable de solution à leurs problèmes.The aim of our paper is to show that Jürgen Habermas's recent political writings enable us to throw a new light on Quebec's political situation. After having remembered the central features of his conception of nationalism in the light of his deliberative theory of democracy, we call attention to its strengths and weaknesses. Its strengths are to make plausible the compatibility between collective identities and individual rights while collective rights are seen as neither useful nor necessary. Its weaknesses are to underestimate the Nation-State as a legitimate political ideal for national minorities and to consider their integration into open federal systems as the unique reasonable way out of their problems. (shrink)

Il faut saluer, je pense, et avec bonheur, la parution récente de l’ouvrage Patriotisme constitutionnel et nationalisme. Sur Jürgen Habermas de Frédérick-Guillaume Dufour, un jeune auteur québécois qui semble plein de promesses. L’ouvrage s’inscrit à l’intérieur d’une vague de fond observable depuis quelques années déjà chez les chercheurs universitaires, tant au Canada qu’au Québec, qui s’intéressent de plus en plus aux travaux récents du philosophe allemand sur le droit et la démocratie délibérative, et tentent d’en tirer les implications pour (...) l’analyse, la compréhension, voire la mise en question, aussi bien du nationalisme québécois que du nationalisme canadienLe livre est d’autant plus pertinent qu’il n’existe pas, dans la littérature produite jusqu’ici, d’ouvrage systématique en langue française consacré à l’application des réflexions politiques de Habermas à la situation canadienne et québécoise. Il s’agit là, sauf erreur, du premier ouvrage d’une certaine ampleur consacré à la question. (shrink)

The political agreements concluded in the summer of 1981 between the main majority and opposition parties constitute a turning point in the development of Spanish regionalism. Whereas previously autonomy statutes were awarded to historic regions with strong social and cultural identities, we have now a situation where a considerable degree of self-government is also made possible for all other regions. This decision shifted the focus more to socio-economic development, thereby stimulating expectations of improvement based on regional political efforts as well (...) as on national solidarity and state assistance. The recently adopted statute of Andalucia illustrates excellently this new orientation. In this contribution an analysis is made of the institutional instruments available for regional self-government. The conclusions are quite positive with regard to the devolution of powers provided in the constitution and the different statutes. Nevertheless Spain is not evolving into a federal state system. As a more appropriate description we prefer Perez Moreno's characterisation of the existing intergovernmental relations as «autonomias integradas». (shrink)

This article argues that there are at least three different versions of methodological nationalism: state-centrism (unjustified supremacy granted to the nation-state), territorialism (understanding space as divided in territories), and groupism (equating society with the nation-state’s society). If these three versions are logically distinct, as it will be shown, the typology can serve as a tool to weight the influence of methodological nationalism in the social sciences. The paper has three sections arguing that 1) the three versions are all present in (...) the literature on methodological nationalism without always being distinguished; 2) the epistemological problems raised by methodological nationalism are sometimes misunderstood as ontological or normative questions about globalization and national borders; 3) the three versions of methodological nationalism can be shown to be logically independent by a few examples. (shrink)

Si un philosophe a fondé son oeuvre sur la conscience historique, c'est bien Raymond Aron. Le rapprochement entre Aron et la post-modernité pourrait surprendre. Il en va tout autrement si l'on considère la conception historique de la post-modernité : celle-ci suit logiquement les Temps Modernes. Elle comprend alors les deux siècles de tensions idéologiques qui ont suivi 1789, jusqu'à la chute du mur de Berlin. Raymond Aron a commenté et pensé les convulsions apocalyptiques du dernier siècle post-moderne. D'où l'idée de (...) le considérer sous plusieurs angles : face au basculement du monde, la critique des idéologies (D. Steinmetz-Jenkins), la théorie des relations internationales (O. Rosenboim), son jugement sur la "tragédie algérienne" (O. Dard). Mais Aron est aussi sensible aux permanences, à ce qui ne bascule pas : c'est un penseur de la nation et des identités régionales, qui s'interroge sur sa propre judéité (G. De Ligio). La philosophie d'Aron, où l'historien est créateur et incarné, présente une analogie avec la théologie chrétienne : Pierre Manent décrit la relation d'Aron au christianisme. Enfin, Aron reste un intellectuel tout engagé dans la défense de la liberté, ce qu'explorent deux contributions : sur ce qu'il doit au libéralisme d'Edmund Burke (M. Oppermann), et sur sa recherche d'une stratégie modérée chez l'historien Hans Delbrück (J. Mouric). Encadrées par l'introduction de Fabrice Bouthillon et la conclusion de Pascal David, ces études esquissent les traits d'une pensée subtile : sceptique contre le dogmatisme des idéologies totalitaires, mais non relativiste, attachée à l'historicité, sans tomber dans le déterminisme historique. Ce volume est issu de la journée d'études du 18 novembre 2014 à l'Université de Bretagne occidentale à Brest."--Page 4 of cover. (shrink)

This analysis concentrates on the linguistic laws of1921 and 1932 concerning the linguistic statuts of the civil servants, and on their contribution to the quest for political identity of Flanders. It exhibits the real political signification of the parliamentary debates on unilinguism and bilinguism. This debate is in the same time paradoxical and instructive for the future of the country. The paradox is that the Flemish circles were in favour of the bilinguism of the civil servants, and the Frenchspeakings for (...) the other solution. The unilinguist solution which was decided will certainly f acilitate the federalization of the civil services beginning in the sixties. In fact, every solution was in favour of Flanders: either the bilinguism would increase the number of Flemish civil servants, either the unilinguism would create the bases for Flemish own civil services. (shrink)

The high frequency that the question “where are you from” gets asked in ordinary conversation, as well as the insistence on getting private information from people one hardly knows, reveal an interesting phenomenon: an exceptional reversing of the codes of politeness, where indiscretion becomes the rule while efforts to avoid it become impolite acts. In order to explain this phenomenon, this article compares the hypothesis of racial micro-aggression defended by the existing literature and supported by the results of the French (...) survey Trajectories and Origins, to the hypothesis of methodological nationalism. The article shows that the second hypothesis provides a better explanation of how the “where are you from” question is actually practiced. The article’s thesis is that the importance of the “where are you from” question in ordinary conversations is a measure of the banalization of methodological nationalism. (shrink)

The papers read at the Semaine des Intellectuels Catholiques of 1958 are here gathered together in the eleventh volume of what is surely one of the most notable French series to appear since the war. Philosophy, history, science law and politics all provide their quota of savants to contribute to a symposium on nationalism viewed from the Christian standpoint. While the word nation can boast of a centuriesold usage not far removed from the modern meaning, the term nationalism first appears (...) at the end of the eighteenth century. For a century and a half it has been perhaps the greatest driving force in world history, and though many would hold that its race is now run in Europe, it is still only getting into its full stride in Africa and Asia. An ideology so alluring and obstinate certainly deserves the closest attention of contemporary Catholic thinkers. (shrink)

Dr. McCracken’s book is partly historical and partly analytical. It opens with as good a summary of Irish history from the founding of the Gaelic League in 1893 until the general election of 1918 as one could wish for. The resounding victory won by Sinn Féin in 1918 prepared the way for the first and second Dáil, whose membership is here analysed from the standpoints of age, religion, education and occupation with some interesting results. As the later parliaments are given (...) similar treatment we may use them here as a basis of comparison in our summary of Dr. McCracken’s results from 1919-21. (shrink)