Nation, A Novelty

Nation, a Novelty
Eric Hobsbawm
Eric Hobsbawm traces the long term

changes in the concept and praxis of nation
and nationalism over 2 centuries, since the
Enlightenment.
Hobsbawm assesses each development in
Nationalist thought in the light of politics
technology and social transformation
(Hobsbawm 10)
He most carefully scrutinizes and extracts
ideologies of nationalism and the genesis
of modern nation in the works of the
ideologist of the era of triumphant
bourgeois liberalism (38).
Ernest Gellner and Miroslav Hrochare the

greatest influences on his work.
From Gellner comes an emphasis on the
state as the agent of nation building.
From Hroch comes the authors awareness
of the regional and social heterogeniety in
the spread of national belongingness and
the three paradigmatic stages of its
dissemination scholarly, political, public.
Scholarly Phase- Emergence of scholarly,
cultural, literary, folkloric identity for a
particular region and its people
Political Phase- Emergence of political and

militant nationalists largely based on
language, ethnicity, religion and historical
memory.
Public Phase the political movement
acquires mass support.
Hobsbawn concentrates on the third stage
when nationalism is transformed from
political movement to mass ideology.
He emphasizes that the nation is essentially
constructed from above but in order to be
understood it must be studied from the
below
The view from below the nation as

seen not by governments and the
spokesmn and the activists of
nationalist movements but by the
ordinary people who are the objects of
their action and propaganda (11).
Official ideologies are not public
ideologies and nationalist standards are
not always ascribed to by the masses.
Priorities might differ. And nationalist
identification is subject to change over
time.
Nation from revolution

Nations started taking shape in the era of
revolutions.
Before 1884 nation only meant, homeland,
a territorial aggregation of inhabitants.
Gradually the notion of state/government
was embedded in the concept of nation.
Patria or terra which meant nothing more
than the place of birth acquired the
politically and sentimentally loaded
meaning of patriotism.
However in the initial decades of its

formation nation and nationalism
only stood for the relationship
between the state and the people
bound by territoriality .
The French Declaration of right read
Each people is independent and
sovereign, whatever the number of
individuals who compose it and the
extent of the territory it occupies. This
sovereignty is inalienable.
Little is said about what constituted the
people emphasizing that people were
political citizens with multiple
The Bourgeois Liberal thought

John Stuart Mill
Formation of a nation-state had to be
(1)feasible and (2)desired by the
nationality itself.
The feasibility was essentially calculated
in bourgeois-capitalist terms.
Nations emerged as guilds, trading units.
The concept of national economics and
national profit emerged and clouded free
trade.
State took over control of currency and
infiltrated fiscal policy making
Formation of nation was seen as Social

darwinism. Evolution from individuals to
family, to locality, regions, states, nation
and moving towards a common world.
Nationalism was therefore the process of
unification.
Hence the principle of nationality applied
only to nationalities of certain size.
And the building of nations was seen
inevitably as a process of expansion.
This was definitely incompatible to the
definitions of nation based on ethnicity,
language or common history.
The concept of nationally

heterogenous nation-states was readily
accepted because there were many
parts of europe and the rest of the
word where nationalities were so
mixed up on the same territory, that a
purely spatial unscrambling of them
seemed unrealistic. (Hitlers genocide)
Nation: towards Liberalism

In practice, besides the size, there were
only three criteria that were needed to
classify a people as a nation.
Its historic association with a current state
or one with a fairly lengthy and recent past.
The existence of a long established cultural
elite, possessing a written national literary
and administrative vernacular.
A proven capacity for conquest. (Accession
act of 1950)
People like Mill and Renan were relaxed

about ethnicity and race because
politically it didnt matter much.
However, since 1880s the debate about
the national question gained traction
not only for the governments
confronted with various kinds of
agitation but also for political parties
seeking to mobilize electoral
constituencies.
Two Ideas of Nationalist Thought

NATIONALIST IDEA
Nation should constitute people
of historical existence and
belonging to the land as opposed
to foreigners.
Ethnicity, cultural heritage
important
REVOLUTIONARY-DEMOCRATIC
IDEA
Sovereign citizens who abide an
acknowledge the conditions of
citizenship constitute a nation.
Ethnicity not an issue

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Nation, a Novelty

Eric Hobsbawm traces the long term

Ernest Gellner and Miroslav Hrochare the

Political Phase- Emergence of political and

The view from below the nation as

Nation from revolution

However in the initial decades of its

The Bourgeois Liberal thought

Formation of nation was seen as Social

The concept of nationally

Nation: towards Liberalism

People like Mill and Renan were relaxed

Two Ideas of Nationalist Thought

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