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<title>D.6 Are anarchists against Nationalism?
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<H1>D.6 Are anarchists against Nationalism?</H1>
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To begin to answer this question, we must first define what we mean by
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nationalism. For many people, it is just the natural attachment to home,
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the place one grew up. These feelings, however, obviously do not exist in
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a social vacuum. Nationality, as Bakunin noted, is a <i>"natural and social
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fact,"</i> as <i>"every people and the smallest folk-unit has its own character,
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its own specific mode of existence, its own way of speaking, feeling,
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thinking, and acting; and it is this idiosyncrasy that constitutes the
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essence of nationality."</i> [<b>The Political Philosophy of Bakunin</b>, p. 325]
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Perhaps it is in the interest of anarchists to distinguish between
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<b>nationality</b> or <b>ethnicity</b> (that is, cultural affinity) and <b>nationalism</b>
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(confined to the state and government itself) as a better way of defining
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what we support and oppose -- nationalism, at root, is destructive and
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reactionary, whereas ethnic and cultural affinity is a source of community,
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social diversity and vitality.
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Such diversity is to be celebrated and allowed to express it itself on its
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own terms. Or, as Murray Bookchin puts it, <i>"[t]hat specific peoples should
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be free to fully develop their own cultural capacities is not merely a
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right but a desideratum. The world would be a drab place indeed if a
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magnificent mosaic of different cultures does not replace the largely
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decultured and homogenised world created by modern capitalism."</i>
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[<i>"Nationalism and the 'National Question'"</i>, <b>Society and Nature</b>,
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pp. 8-36, No. 5, pp. 28-29] But, as he also warns, such cultural freedom
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and variety should <b>not</b> be confused with nationalism. The latter is far
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more (and ethically, a lot less) than simple recognition of cultural
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uniqueness and love of home. Nationalism is the love of, or the desire to
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create, a nation-state. And for this reason anarchists are opposed
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to it, in all its forms.
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This means that nationalism cannot and must not be confused with
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nationality. The later is a product of social processes while the
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former to a product of state action and elite rule. Social evolution
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cannot be squeezed into the narrow, restricting borders of the nation
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state without harming the individuals whose lives <b>make</b> that social
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development happen in the first place.
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The state, as we have seen, is a centralised body invested with power
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and a social monopoly of force. As such it pre-empts the autonomy of
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localities and peoples, and in the name of the "nation" crushes the
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living, breathing reality of "nations" (i.e. peoples and their cultures)
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with one law, one culture and one "official" history. Unlike most
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nationalists, anarchists recognise that almost all "nations" are in
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fact not homogeneous, and so consider nationality to be far wider in
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application than just lines on maps, created by conquest. Hence we think
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that recreating the centralised state in a slightly smaller area, as
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nationalist movements generally advocate, cannot solve what is called
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the "national question."
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Ultimately, as Rudolf Rocker argues, the <i>"nation is not the cause,
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but the result of the state. It is the state that creates the nation,
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not the nation the state."</i> [<b>Nationalism and Culture</b>, p. 200]
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Every state is an artificial mechanism imposed upon society by
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some ruler in order to defend and make secure the interests of
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privileged minorities within society. Nationalism was created to
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reinforce the state by providing it with the loyalty of a people
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of shared linguistic, ethnic, and cultural affinities. And if
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these shared affinities do not exist, the state will create them
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by centralising education in its own hands, imposing an "official"
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language and attempting to crush cultural differences from the people's
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Hence we see the all too familiar sight of successful "national liberation"
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movements replacing foreign oppression with a home-based one. This is
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unsurprising as nationalism delivers power to local ruling classes as
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it relies on taking state power. As a result, Nationalism can never
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deliver freedom to the working class (the vast majority of a given
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"nation"). Moreover, nationalism hides class differences within the
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"nation" by arguing that all people must unite around their supposedly
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common interests (as members of the same "nation"), when in fact they have
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nothing in common due to the existence of hierarchies and classes. Its
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function is to build a mass support base for local elites angry with
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imperialism for blocking their ambitions to rule and exploit "their"
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nation and fellow country people:
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<i>"[W]e must not forget that we are always dealing with the organised
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selfishness of privileged minorities which hide behind the skirts of
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the nation, hide behind the credulity of the masses [when discussing
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Nationalism]. We speak of national interests, national capital, national
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spheres of interest, national honour, and national spirit; but we forget
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that behind all this there are hidden merely the selfish interests of
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power-loving politicians and money-loving business men for whom the
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nation is a convenient cover to hide their personal greed and their
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schemes for political power from the eyes of the world."</i> [Rudolf Rocker,
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<b>Op. Cit.</b>, pp. 252-3]
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Moreover, the Nation has effectively replaced God in terms of justifying
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injustice and oppression and allowing individuals to wash their hands
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of their own actions. For <i>"under cover of the nation everything can be
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hid"</i> argues Rocker (echoing Bakunin, we must note). <i>"The national
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flag covers every injustice, every unhumanity, every lie, every outrage,
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every crime. The collective responsibility of the nation kills the
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sense of justice of the individual and brings man to the point where
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he overlooks injustice done; where, indeed, it may appear to him a
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meritorious act if committed in the interests of the nation."</i> [<b>Op.
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Cit.</b>, p. 252] (perhaps, in the future, the economy will increasingly
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replace the nation just as the nation replaced god as the means of
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escaping personal responsibility of our acts? Only time will tell,
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but "economic efficiency" has been as commonly used to justify
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oppression and exploitation as "reasons of state" and "the national
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interest" have been).
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Thus anarchists oppose nationalism in all its forms as harmful to
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the interests of those who make up a given nation and their cultural
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identities. However, anarchists are opposed to all forms of exploitation
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and oppression, including imperialism (i.e. a situation of external
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domination where the ruling class of one country dominates the people
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and territory of another country - see section <a href="secD5.html">D.5</a>). While rejecting
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Nationalism, anarchists do not necessarily oppose national liberation
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struggles against such domination (see section <a href="secD7.html">D.7</a> for details).
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However, it goes without saying that national "liberation" movements
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that take on notions of racial, cultural or ethnic "superiority" or
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"purity" or believe that cultural differences are somehow "rooted"
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in biology get no support from anarchists.
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