民族主义建构中的政治认同——伊拉克复兴党民族主义政治实践个案考察

复兴党统治时期的伊拉克,由于在其特有的政治、宗教、文化环境中存在着许多变量,统治者可以按照其政治利益的需求来界定或重新界定国家的政治认同。萨达姆根据国家利益的需求强调和实行了几种不同的政治认同,即两伊战争期间的阿拉伯民族主义认同、海湾战争期间的伊斯兰主义认同和海湾战争之后的部族主义认同。伊拉克复兴党的多重政治认同在其政权生存中具有特殊的意义,但也有其致命的弱点。     

中东民族主义与中东社会文化变迁

本文认为,中东民族主义是推动中东社会文化变迁的重要力量,但中东的文化整合过程并不顺利。从外部来看,中东地区相对落后的社会经济发展的制约、政治救亡与文化启蒙的两难选择及伊斯兰文化与民族文化的对立,决定了中东的社会文化变迁是十分艰难的。从内部来看,中东民族主义还存在三个方面的变化困境,即民族主义理论本身的局限,中东民族主义现代政治内涵的匮乏,泛民族主义与部族主义对民族主义造成的文化认同混乱。所有这些使得中东民族主义主导的文化整合进程是不成功的。伊斯兰复兴运动的兴起已证明了这一点。     

评《伊拉克复兴党民族主义理论与实践研究》

近年来,我国学者对中东民族主义的研究不断有相关研究成果问世,特别是彭树智先生的《东方民族主义思潮》①属于中东民族主义研究的奠基之作,开创了中国中东民族主义研究的新天地.但就中东民族主义的微观个案研究而言,则十分缺乏.西北大学中东研究所韩志斌教授201 1年出版的《伊拉克复兴党民族主义理论与实践研究》②(简称《伊拉克复兴党》)一书,则是研究伊拉克复兴党民族主义理论与实践的专题研究,也是对中东民族主义个案的微观研究,弥补了该研究领域的空白.该书以作者2005年完成的博士论文为基础,又经过6年认真的研磨,其整体构思和安排更具逻辑性和系统性.笔者作为他的博士学位论文评审专家之一,当时就看好这部专著.这部著作无论是从国际政治、国际关系角度,还是从国别研究角度,较前大有提高,颇具学术功力,堪称—部力作.     

对中东民族主义的多维思考

中东民族主义在塑造中东的政治、经济、文化格局过程中发挥着举足轻重的作用。本文就这一政治力量在中东国家所涉及到的一些重要问题——从革命到建设的角色转换问题、政治制度化与政治合法性的重建问题、文化认同与文化整合问题、民族主义与现代化的关系问题、中东民族主义与外部世界的关系问题——进行了阐述。文章认为,能否很好地处理、解决这些问题,直接关系到中东国家的政治前途和未来命运。     

阐释与启示:海外关于中国民族主义问题的研究

民族主义问题备受学界关注。20世纪上半叶的中国民族主义演绎曾被概括为"步步高涨的50年"。以欧美学者为主,他们不仅致力于民族主义理论的基础研究,以解释、辨析、厘定相关概念,从政治学、社会学、人类学、文化学、经济学等角度考察民族主义的发生发展,而且关注具体语境下民族主义作为一种意识形态的政治性运作、社会思潮和社会政治运动,既从西方历史背景论述有关结论,又对中国等发展中国家的民族主义进行论析。既有研究虽对民族共同体的建构、民族意识的觉醒和民族观念的确立、民族主义思想的形成有详细论述,但从思想史上关照民族主义,真正在民族主义发生、发展和演进的语境中解读近代中国民族主义与政治、经济、文化和社会的内在关联,尚有很大研究空间。     

“文化民族主义”思想根源探析——以德国文化民族主义为例

“文化民族主义”是“民族主义”的核心内容,它以不同形式出现在世人面前。本文认为,原生形态的“文化民族主义”是在资本主义经济和民主政治有所发展而又相对落后于其他民族时产生的文化思潮;“文化民族主义”的产生有其深刻的思想根源和历史必然性;“文化民族主义”将长期存在;“文化”的意识形态性决定了它是一种政治资本,是维护本国和本民族利益的政治武器。因此我们应该因势利导,增强民族的凝聚力和向心力,同时抵制文化霸权主义的侵袭。     

民族主义视角下的埃以和谈

中东政治的发展始终伴随着民族主义的嬗变。20世纪七十年代末,埃及在萨达特的领导下奉行埃及民族主义,与以色列走向和谈,中东和平进程取得突破性进展。本文阐述了埃及民族主义的内容及其对埃及外交政策的影响,并深入分析它对中东和平进程的历史作用,为中东地区的长治久安寻求有益启示。     

从阿拉伯民族主义到巴勒斯坦民族主义——巴勒斯坦民族的成长历程

巴勒斯坦民族经历了从“潜在民族”→“自在民族”→“自觉民族”的过程。在思想领域,巴勒斯坦人经历了从阿拉伯民族主义到巴勒斯坦民族主义的转变。在完成了这一转变后,美国、以色列和国际社会才把解决巴勒斯坦问题的重心从阿拉伯国家转移到巴勒斯坦人身上,才使中东和平进程步入了正确轨道。     

自由主义与民族主义的纠缠——以1930-40年代“战国策派”思潮为例

在近代中国社会发展中,拯救民族危机与向现代转型是发展的两条主线,由此形成了既要反对西方侵略、维护民族尊严,就要倡导中国文化独立性,反对西方文化传入;既要开放中国,学习西方以融入世界,就必须反对民族主义思潮,批判传统文化的相互矛盾的双线走向。在九一八事变后民族危机上升为中国社会主要矛盾,"战国策派"主要人物与追求自由主义信仰的众多知识界人士一样,在思想理念上发生了迎合民族主义思潮的转变,倡导"国家至上、民族至上",呼吁个人自由暂时让位于民族自由,为时势所迫主张集权政治,并将民主政治与民主主义硬性割裂。救亡与启蒙的两难,观念与现实的冲突,自由主义内核与民族主义外衣的交织,在战国策学人论述中表现十分突出,也是那个动荡时代知识群体中思潮繁杂现象的典型反映。     

当代民族主义及其未来趋势

民族主义是预测２１世纪人类社会发展的一个不可回避的话题。根据属性,民族主义可划分为政治民族主义、经济民族主义和文化民族主义。从历史上看,政治民族主义时代已基本结束,经济民族主义和文化民族主义在意识形态中的地位开始上升。在下一个世纪,这种趋势将继续发展,但民族主义已不可能像１９、２０世纪那样成为一种世界性潮流了。下一个世纪,所有国家将强调本国内全体公民的利益,而不是单纯的民族利益,国与国之间的相互合作与相互依赖关系也将进一步加强。     

Cultural nationalism and everyday resistance in an illiberal nationalising state: ethnic minority nationalism in Russia

Ethnic minority nationalism has always been one of the most important subfields of nationalism studies, yet it lacks the consideration in illiberal settings. Limitations of civil liberties and restrictive legislation have undoubtedly affected the existence and the ways to express minority nationalism when it is considered a threat to authoritarian government, which is the case of the contemporary Russian Federation. The paper provides a methodological framework that helps to investigate ethnic minority nationalism when its direct articulation is restricted. It argues that the combination of a cultural nationalism approach and complexity theory can be a fruitful way to explore minority nationalism in an illiberal nationalising state using the case of Russian ethnic minorities. It also argues that the complex context of authoritarianism and market economy creates tipping points towards the growing importance of ethnic minority identification as a basis for social solidarity.     

‘Primordialism’ in nationalism studies: theory or ideology?

For several decades, the field of nationalism studies has seen an extended debate about explanations of nationalism and about the process of nation formation. An impressive set of labels has been coined to describe alternative approaches. One of the theories that has enjoyed unusual longevity is the approach known as primordialism, which stresses the deep historical and cultural roots of nations and nationalism and assumes their quasi‐objective character. This resilience is surprising because of the difficulty of marshalling evidence to support such a theory, and because of the line‐up of critics who dismiss it. This article explores the recent debate about primordialism. It suggests that authentic versions of primordialism are extremely hard to find in the academic literature, and that primordialism may better be viewed as an ingredient in nationalism than as an explanation of nationalism.     

How to gauge banal nationalism and national indifference in the past: proletarian tweets in Belgium's belle époque

Michael Billig's theory of banal nationalism involves the assumption that the absence of an explicit discourse on the nation should be interpreted as the unmindful presence of nationalism and that the mass media faithfully represent or reflect the discourses of ‘ordinary people’. Recent historical research of ‘national indifference’ in imperial Austria has inverted the correlation between the ubiquity of nationalist discourses and their impact in society. This article assesses these conflicting frameworks and refutes AD Smith's critique of everyday nationalism research as necessarily ahistorical and presentist. This case study of the rank‐and‐file of the social‐democratic Belgian Workers' Party at the close of the nineteenth century uses a unique source of working‐class voices: the so‐called ‘propaganda pence’ or ‘proletarian tweets’ from the Flemish‐speaking city of Ghent. Hot, explicit nationalism was absent from these sources, which begs the question: is this proof of banal nationalism or national indifference? A historically contextualized analysis of the absences shows that workers expressed national indifference towards Belgian, but not towards Flemish ethnicity. In Rogers Brubaker's terms: Flemish ethnicity was a relevant social category, but only in a very restricted number of social contexts could it become a basis for ‘groupness’ or political mobilisation in daily life.     

Complexity and nationalism

Classic theories of nationalism, whether modernist or ethnosymbolist, emphasise the role of elites and spread of a common imagined community from centre to periphery. Recent work across a range of disciplines challenges this account by stressing the role of horizontal, peer-to-peer, dynamics alongside top-down flows. Complexity theory, which has recently been applied to the social sciences, expands our understanding of horizontal national dynamics. It draws together contemporary critiques, suggesting that researchers focus on the network properties of nations and nationalism. It stresses that order may emerge from chaos; hence, ‘national’ behaviour may appear without an imagined community. Treating nations like complex systems whose form emerges from below should focus research on four central aspects of complexity: emergence, feedback loops, tipping points and distributed knowledge, or ‘the wisdom of crowds’. This illuminates how national identity can be reproduced by popular activities rather than the state; why nationalist ideas may gestate in small circles for long periods, then suddenly spread; why secession is often contagious; and why wide local variation in the content of national identity strengthens rather than weakens the nation's power to mobilise.     

The importance of being Ernest: a Comment on Riga and Hall

Ernest Gellner's work on nationalism continues to draw a mix of both admiration and criticism. In a recent article, Riga and Hall find fault with a new line of criticism of Gellner's theory of nationalism that I introduced in a series of articles in this journal. They claim that I have merely repeated a well‐known criticism of Gellner – that his work is functionalist. This would be convenient for their arguments if it were true. While I would agree, and have explicitly acknowledged, that there is nothing new in the charge of functionalism, I do not take a functionalist line on Gellner. Functionalism is not the issue. My work shows that his theory of nationalism is plagued with problems that have little or nothing to do with functionalism.     

Anatomy of the national myth: archetypes and narrative in the study of nationalism

This paper argues that recognising types of underlying narrative form which repeatedly occur across cases is critical to the study of nationalism. It proposes a method borrowed from the literary theory of Northrop Frye – archetypal criticism – for identifying the four basic forms of emotional architecture that characterise the myths of particular nations: tragic, romantic, comic and satiric. The study of nationalism has long acknowledged the importance of narrative in political behaviour. But consideration of how distinct types of narratives affect specific emotions is missing. The ‘narrative turn’ in the social sciences, which has responded to instrumentalist scepticism, has thus far focused on the cognitive functions of narrative. That is, how narrative influences the acquisition and interpretation of information and how stories are used to construct or reinforce a collective understanding of events. The undertheorised dimension of narrative in nationalism relates to the emotional structures embedded within narrative. This is where this paper makes its contribution.     

Giuseppe Mazzini and the democratic logic of nationalism

ABSTRACT. This article brings the thought of Giuseppe Mazzini back into the field of nationalism studies, from which it has been largely missing for a half century. It suggests the following: that Mazzini is much more modern and secular than he is usually portrayed; and that his commitment to liberal policies while rejecting liberal principles suggests that the distinction between civic and ethnic nationalism has been misconceived. Nationalism, to Mazzini, was not an end in itself but a means to an end – government of, by and for the people. The demand for such a government was manifested in three popular demands in nineteenth‐century Europe: in the West as democracy, in the East as national sovereignty (the precondition for democracy) and in both East and West as social democracy. Thus nationalism may be instrumental rather than an end in itself, and it may be attributable not to ethnic groups' natural striving for autonomy but to the pursuit of democracy.     

Identity and state formation in multi‐sectarian societies: Between nationalism and sectarianism in Syria

The relation between state formation and identity in MENA multi‐sectarian societies is examined, taking Syria as a case study. The paper looks at the impact of the mix of sectarianism and nationalism on the formation of state institutions and the impact of the latter on this mix. The flawed export of the Westphalian state system to MENA established the structural context—multiple identities, hybrid states—wherein the two identities compete, overlap, and coexist. Next, the factors that explain varying identity patterns in MENA are surveyed and their likely consequences for state formation; then, reversing the analysis, the impact of state formation and state institutions on the nationalism–sectarianism balance is examined. The Syrian case is briefly discussed in order to illustrate the argument, looking at three periods when the identity balance interacted differently with state formation: pre‐Ba'thist Syria when nationalism eclipsed sectarianism; Ba'thist Syria (1970‐2000) when patrimonial instrumentalization of sectarianism was compensated for by inclusive bureaucratic institutions, populist policies, and nationalist ideology; neo‐liberal Syria under Bashar al‐Asad (2000‐2010) when inclusion shrank, reanimating sectarianism; and civil war Syria (2010‐) when partial state failure fostered exclusionary militant sectarianism at the expense of nationalism.     

Focusing on Chinese nationalism: an inherently flawed perspective? A reply to Allen Carlson

My article replies to Allen Carlson's critique of the existing literature on Chinese nationalism (Carlson's article was published in Volume 15, issue 1 of Nations and Nationalism, 2009). I address Carlson's criticisms and proceed to evaluate his proposal to move away from an allegedly unhelpful focus on nationalism towards the allegedly more illuminating framework of national identity construction. My approach to the existing literature on Chinese nationalism acknowledges efforts made within it at grappling with issues of theory and definition and builds on this acknowledgement to operate a selective appraisal of its strengths and weaknesses. I argue that while some of the problems identified by Carlson do indeed plague the literature, his advocacy of abandoning nationalism as a focus of research is unwarranted. There is continuing validity in using nationalism as a lens for understanding how China sees its place in the world.     

Warm nationalism: Mapping and imagining the Jordanian nation

In 2002, fourteen years after their withdrawal from the West Bank, the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan revealed its new national program known as “Jordan First.” The Palace initiated this campaign as part of its shifting national discourse which now sought to actively unite Palestinian-Jordanians and East Jordanians living to the east of the Jordan River. This campaign, and particularly its common map-logo symbol, has evolved over the last fourteen years into a rather “banal” national discourse and symbol. However, Jordanian nationalism and the everyday symbols of the Jordan First campaign are not forgotten. Instead, for many Jordanians, the campaign is a reminder of “hot” geopolitics and palpable identity politics. Drawing from Michael Billig's theorizations of banal nationalism, I examine the relationship between banal and hot forms of nationalism in Jordan and argue that scholarly work on banality needs to focus attention on the connections between these categories. As such, I suggest that framing nationalism as something quite “warm” can in many instances more aptly capture the complexity of nationalism. Using a multi-method approach that includes analyses of national maps and map-logos of Jordan and in-depth interviews with Jordanians about their national identities, I highlight the connections of hot and banal nationalism. Through my analysis, I also show that a Jordanian national identity is multi-scalar, merging Arab supranationalism with Jordanian and Palestinian identities; and thus I also extend Billig's work to examine the multiple scales of nationalism.