To what extent Nationalism can be identified as an ideology?
Within the list of core ideologies, Nationalism, in most cases, will be called out at the very end or won’t be even mentioned at all. It is not because nationalism is seemed to be less important; conversely, it has been analyzed and studied as much as any other theories like liberalism or conservatism. But its complexity and diversity of usage tend to produce a vast variety of interpretations of the term itself, which then misleads many academics and students. A dispute may rise from the very beginning of the story about nationalism, i.e. its origin. Some scholars, like Anthony D. Smith, see nationalism as a perennial and natural phenomenon, dating back to the ancient nations of Egypt, Assyria, Persia, Greece, etc. (Smith, 2009). The other side of the argument is that nationalism began to emerge and be recognized as an ideology only after nationalist movements within the French Revolution and American Revolution in 18th -19th centuries. The only fact that has been left more or less undeniable is the initial meaning or a term [from Latin natio means ‘belonging together by birth’, which is derived from nasci - ‘to be born’ (Vincent, 2010)] that encourages the broad understanding of nationalism as a feel of community, unity and belonging to ‘me like’.
Prior to the examination of the extent to which nationalism can be defined as an ideology, it has to be pointed out that the concept of ideology is as much complex and intricate as a concept of nationalism. Providing a description of social reality, ideologies embody a set of political ideas of how the social organization ought to be; but throughout the years it has been overloaded with a numerous variety of possible senses of an ‘ideal world’. Therefore, in order to assess nationalism from the perspective of an ideology, it has to be taken into account that too many assumptions and interpretations already exist within the debate. To simplify the analysis the essay will separate two main notions, where first
Prior to the examination of the extent to which nationalism can be defined as an ideology, it has to be pointed out that the concept of ideology is as much complex and intricate as a concept of nationalism. Providing a description of social reality, ideologies embody a set of political ideas of how the social organization ought to be; but throughout the years it has been overloaded with a numerous variety of possible senses of an ‘ideal world’. Therefore, in order to assess nationalism from the perspective of an ideology, it has to be taken into account that too many assumptions and interpretations already exist within the debate. To simplify the analysis the essay will separate two main notions, where first