The Jacobinism and patriotism of Ernest Belfort Bax

This article examines Ernest Belfort Bax's interpretation of the French Revolution and traces the impact that his idea of the Revolution had on his philosophy and his political thought. The first section considers Bax's understanding of the Revolution in the context of his theory of history and analyses his conception of the Revolution's legacy, drawing particularly on his portraits of Robespierre, Marat and Babeuf. The second section shows how the lessons Bax drew from this history shaped his socialist republicanism and discusses his support for Jacobin methods of revolutionary change. The third section of the article looks at the ways in which Bax's reading of revolutionary history affected his internationalism and shows how his ‘anti-patriotism’ led him to support the Anglo-French campaign in 1914. I argue that the Bax's understanding of the French Revolution gave body to his philosophy and greatly influenced his understanding of the socialist struggle. Bax believed that socialists had history on their side, but was so emboldened by the idea of the Revolution that he was led to advance a view of socialist change that undermined the historic values that socialism was supposed to enshrine.     

The nation as the cradle of nationalism and patriotism

This paper argues against dismissing as ‘populist nationalism’ every positive view of one's nation and ignoring patriotism as its antithesis. The European nation exists in two senses: as a large ‘social group’, a community of real people, and as an abstract community of cultural values promoted by intellectual elites grounded in a humanities‐based education. The widespread prejudice that condemns every positive expression of one's relationship to the nation has proved counterproductive because it has prompted ever stronger spontaneous reactions in the form of primitive nationalistic egoism. This has weakened the commitment people feel towards their nation and the humanistic potential that the nation possesses as a cultural community of values. Consequently, anti‐national European intellectual elites bear some responsibility – along with those preaching neoliberal individualism – for the success of populist demagogues and the decline in patriotic values. Given the state of education today, a revival of humanist culture for national elites seems impossible, making the continued rise of primitive nationalism appear unstoppable.     

古典爱国主义的现代诠释

本文对古典爱国主义研究中向来未能厘清并容易引起混乱的几个问题,诸如"夷夏之辨"与"胡汉一家";军事、政治上的征服与思想、文化上的反征服;征服者符合历史潮流的统一趋归与被征服者的家国之忠等,试图重新加以辨析和界定,追溯其源头,厘清其演进和流变,评诂其在中国国体形成及中华各族走向融合的历史进程中的作用得失.     

Postmodern patriotism: Canadian reflections

Canada is an evolving human geography that has nurtured difference and made a unitary state impossible. In this short essay I allude to the historical-geographical construction of Canada and the type of confederation it encouraged. I show how deeply different identities are ingrained in the fabric of this country. As the state cannot provide equally for all these identities, I consider the special claims of Native peoples and French speakers, particularly in relation to those of multiculturalism, and argue that the country has a particular responsibility to those societies that were here before the Canadian state, and found it superimposed upon them. Overall, I try to show that Canadian patriotism, based less on an overriding meta-narrative (which the country had never found) than on an appreciation of difference and the responsibilities of citizenship, provides a welcome alternative to either an exclusionary ethnic nationalism or a borderless electronic postmodernity.     

The politics of migration

This editorial introduces the Virtual Special Issue on the Politics of Migration by presenting a review of migration and refugee related articles published in Political Geography. We have identified two major shifts in scope during the last 30 years. First, the scalar focus has changed from nation-state policies to supranational migration agreements and transnational migrant experiences. Second, the theoretical focus has moved from geopolitics to biopolitics. Ten selected articles illustrate three central themes: regulation of migration, practices of border enforcement and migrant experiences.     

The younging of Australian politics or politics as first career

Politics is usually seen as a second career and many elite studies include details of the background of MPs and draw conclusions from that data. But Australian politicians appear to be entering politics, reaching the ministry and retiring at younger ages. This article explores the accuracy of these perceptions for Australian federal politics and explores some of the implications of politics becoming a first career.     

The politics of the diarist

Peter Howson, The Life of Politics: The Howson Diaries, ed. Don Aitkin, Melbourne, The Viking Press, pp. 1013. $39.95     

The politics of Australian yuppies

Although many popular claims are made about the social distinctiveness and political importance of yuppies (young, urban or upwardly‐mobile professionals), there is little firm evidence to support such claims. This paper uses national survey data to identify individuals who might be classified as yuppies, and examines their demographic and social attributes and political orientations. The results show that there are no substantial differences between yuppies on the one hand, and non‐yuppies (young, rural persons or young urban non‐professionals) and people aged 40 and over on the other. Moreover, yuppies tend to be liberal rather than conservative on most issues, economic ones included. These results suggest that claims about the distinctiveness and political importance of yuppies are generally exaggerated.