Nationalism Links

This list of links to online nationalism resources has been compiled by Paul Treanor in association with his article Structures of Nationalism. The links are organized on the basis of the forms of nationalism described in the text: globalism, macro-cultural, nation state nationalism, ethno-nationalism, and localism.

This version last updated 16/7/96

The author maintains a current version of this list which can be viewed at http://web.inter.nl.net/users/Paul.Treanor/plana.html.

General Sources (and some theory)

Studying nationalism....

The standard view...

A Symposium on Global Migration and the Future of the Nation State, in the Indiana Global Legal Studies Journal.

The Open University School of Management announces the Death of Nations, in the AD 2000 Millennium Project.

France collapsing under postcolonial terrorism, new tribal dialects, and the growth of identities in Société de Demain, Société de Violence?.

As an example of civilizational theory, though not specifically a civilizational theory on nation states, Civilisation and Decivilisation, by Stephen Menell, the leading British advocate of Norbert Elias's theory.

An application of Elias's civilization theory to nation state formation in Central Europe, by Helmut Kuzmics.

The World Wide Web Virtual Library Migration and Ethnic Relations lists many sites concerned indirectly with nationalism.

The first chapter of Thomas Hylland Eriksen's Ethnicity and Nationalism: Anthroplogical Perspectives reviews anthropological notions of ethnicity. See the author's Thematic Index for other papers on identity, nation and modernity.

National culture is too dangerous to leave to politicians - therefore leave it to anthropologists? Frans Hüsken's (summarized) defence of anthropology from the suspicion of collusion with nationalism (click on number 14).

The World-Systems Archive is the primary on-line source for world-system theories, with books, reviews, and papers. The site content emphasizes how much overlap there is between normative and descriptive globalism. Forward into the Past: World-Systems before 1500, a pre-print from Sociological Forum by Thomas Hall and Christopher Chase-Dunn reviews the current preoccupation of world-systems theory with pre-modern systems.

The Humanities Net review site includes reviews of recent works on nationalism.

Globalism

The Center for Utopian Studies pages include links to material on normative global visions.

Earth United. Normative globalism in pure form, with links to proposed global 'constitutions'. More constitutions at the Grassroots World Government site.

The United Planetary Federation is located at Chicago IL, and it shows: 'Out of respect for diversity, comes recognition of freedoms and individual rights: in the common interest of a Lasting World Peace through a Federal Democratic Republic'. The links include the Rainbow over the UN project: globalist art.

Towards a World Social Contract, by Kenneth Boulding. A short essay with a world view that is shared by many in the social sciences. War is claimed to be the characteristic of a world of nations, referred to as a world of multiple states. Therefore, according to Boulding, an evolution towards global government is historical development, and also morally desirable. Compare Earth as a Space Ship, a very early (1965) use of the metaphor.

World Citizen Web, the successors of Gary Davis, the man who issued Global Passports.

Community Building as a Metaphor for a Worldwide Paradigm Shift, including Major World Mind Change as a Paradigm Shift in Our Time. New Age global-mind cosmopolitanism: belief in some form of global spiritual entity is not new, and continues to inspire popular cosmopolitanism. Recent versions of this belief are based on technology: see Emergence of Global Brains in Cyber Space.

Turning Point for All Nations. A Statement of the Baha'i International Community on the Occasion of the 50th Anniversary of the United Nations. Standard recent normative cosmopolitanism: transformation of the UN, in the direction of a World Government, but not too fast.

Globalization Brings a Need for Global Ethics. Globalist ethical pan-syncretism, reported by Flora Lewis. 'A small group met in Vienna last weekend to consider how it might be possible to work out a global ethic ... convoked by German ex-Chancellor Helmut Schmidt ... there were representatives of all the major religions'.

The compiler's paper World-Nation: Normative Globalism as Pan-Nationalism covers some recent academic globalism.

An alternative world order: Nationalism and the Islamic State. 'In Islam the Sovereignty Belongs to Allah ... We Must Give Up the Idea of Nationalism'.

Macro-Cultures and Meso-Cultures

The clash of civilizations (or civilisations)...

BOZKURTLAR. Classic pan-nationalist symbolism, graphically presented on the Net: 'The gray wolf is the ancient and noble animal representing the nation of Turks stretching from the Northern Pacific Ocean, west through Siberia, to Eastern Europe and the Mediterranean Sea'.

More links at the comprehensive Turkic Republics and Communities site, including the Turkish World Flag Hall.

Exploring Ancient World Cultures, a good example of civilizational historiography, covering eight cultures. Compare The Worlds Religions and Their Scriptures, dividing the world into 13 religious traditions (plus new religions).

The main example of cultural diaspora nationalism is afrocentrism, see the sites listed at the African American Web Connection, especially the resource list. Links to a classic example of the invention of tradition (in 1966), see the Kwanzaa Information Center. The Kwanzaa holiday is an African-American / afro-centric Christmas.

An Islamic Site at the University of Buffalo emphasizing the unity of the Islamic world across its languages. Many more Islamic sites can be accessed through Al-Wasl, Your Link to the Islamic CyberWorld, or IslamiCity in Cyberspace (with a virtual Mosque and on-line Iman).

Pan-Turkism versus pan-Islam, from the site quoted above: "The Crescent Moon and Star are ancient Turkish celestial symbols of power originating from the Turkish, ancestoral lands of Siberia and Central Asia."

The Morality of Survival. White supremacist racial civilization theory: sociobiology, Spengler, and the Germanic values of European civilisation. This site is explicitly racist: it should at least remind people of the intellectual background of 'clash-of-cultures' theories.

Pan-Europa Union. Probably the most explicit pan-European organisation, but also a vehicle for Hapsburg nostalgia. The goals are in the language of South German christian democracy: 'PANEUROPA ist freiheitlich, christlich, sozial und europäisch. ... Das Christentum ist die Seele Europas.'

Nation States, Classic Nationalism, Europe of Nations

The International Affairs WWW Virtual Library links to many sites, but typically does not include a specific section on nations or nationalism. The political/social sciences lists below also include relevant material.

A list of International Organisations, the de facto organization of the international world order. From the International Relations and Security Network, includes links to other lists.

Nation to Nation Diplomacy: Klaus Kinkel's latest visits. The archive with Kinkel meeting his Algerian, Beninese, Croatian, Brazilian, Bulgarian, Chilean, Chinese, Finnish, Israeli, Yemeni, Canadian, Maltese, Macedonian, Mozambiquan, New Zealand, Dutch, Romanian, Slovenian, Syrian, Hungarian, (former) Zairean and Cypriot colleagues has been removed from this site: fear of cult of personality?

The Auswärtiges Amt co-finances Inter Nationes, a good example of a national propaganda institute, promoting Germany to other nations.

Europe of the Nations...

Nation and identity...

Despite the emergence of these national sites, some people insist Internet undermines nation states: see this poststructuralist analysis Postmodern Virtualities.

Two papers by Itamar Even-Zohar: Culture Planning and the Market: Making and Maintaining Socio-Semiotic Entities and The Role of Literature in the Making of the Nations of Europe: A Socio-Semiotic Explanation. (This paper has an interesting quote from Pasolini in 1975 accusing the centralizing Italian state of cultural genocide: compare the accusation below against the EU). The bibliography from Poetics Today includes unfamiliar material on semiotics approaches to culture.

Yet less global culture: Naviguez sur L'inforoute Francophone avec Multi F Contact. (Look at the META tag for keywords of this site). Includes a link to the Association Dèfense de la Langue Française, an example of defensive linguistic nationalism.

Umut Foundation activities combine nation-building, 'civil society', and inter-nation conflict resolution - in the face of pan-Turkist and pan-Islamic influence: 'Turkish youth, guided by Atatürks principles, who ... aim to realize and maintain peace at the national and international level'.

National Culture: A Contradiction in Terms. A classic defence of existing nation states by the assertion that culture is now transnational anyway. Leans on Pierre Trudeau's equally classic defence of Canada.

Nation and separatism....

Nation and Europe...

Thomas Hylland Eriksen's A non-ethnic state for Africa takes Mauritius as an example. A rejection of ethnic essentialism, but still favouring a nation state.

Ethno-Nationalism, Ethno-Regionalism

An ethno-cultural world...

A 'World of the Cultures' is the effective vision of Our Creative Diversity: Report of the World Commission on Culture and Development. The report is pluralistic ('multiculturalist'), but responses at a conference were more syncretic ('transcultural'), see the Power of Culture conference site.

The Centre Internacional Escarre per a les Minories Etniques i Nacionals is typical of an ethnonational approach to research - the documentation of nations as a research goal.

Researching Indigenous Peoples Rights under International Law. Literature list and legal sources. More or less explicit ethno-nationalist approach: 'In Europe, the following may be considered as indigenous populations: the Celtic peoples of the British Isles, Brittany in France and Galicia in Spain; the Basque peoples...'

Canadian Fur Trappers Accuse EU of Cultural Genocide. The logic of ethnonationalism: 'Aboriginal Canadian fur trappers accused the European Union on Tuesday of "cultural genocide" by an imminent ban on imported fur from animals caught in traditional leg-hold traps'.

The Turkish Crime of our Century. Blood drips from the Turkish flag at this site, presenting Turkey as the oppressor of Greeks, Kurds and Armenians.

Ethno-nationalist and regionalist secession and autonomy, in Europe especially...

Committee of the Regions of the European Union. Official regionalism, entirely integrated in EU policy. See the Final Declaration of the Amsterdam Summit of the Regions and Cities. (A rare example of an EU text online in more than two official EU languages, nine this time).

Official local authority regionalism from a regional consortium of the Stadt Graz: 'Der Wirtschaftsraum Graz versteht sich im zukünftigen Europa der Regionen als eine Einheit aus Stadt und umgebender Region'.

The Universal Declaration on Linguistic Rights is an example of a universalist declaration concerning many groups, ethno-linguistic minorities. (Such declarations contradict the view of nationalism as particularistic).

The Rise (and Falling) of the Nation State, from the New Internationalist: a typical expression of the belief that nation states will be eroded by global co-operation of smaller (ethnic) entities.

Jeunesse Européenne Fédéraliste. Best classified, ultimately, as regionalist-federalists. The manifesto advocates decentralisation in existing nation states, not just in Europe: "A World Federation is the ultimate goal of all federalists."

Nationalism and Plurinationalism in a Multi-Ethnic State: Indigenous Organizations in Ecuador.

Localism

Although urban planning sites include texts favouring small-scale communities, few explicit ideological texts in favour of localism seem available on-line.

New Age global community-localism, at Design Earth Synergy. View the 'CONCEPTUAL DIAGRAMS illustrating a world-wide network of community co-visionary strategic action/planning centers'.

Local government as skills manager in a post-industrial world: an Australian Labour case for active (local) government. At the Australian Local Government Association site, which has some more relevant links.

A plea for urban local government in Hometowns Matter, from the New Democrat.

A less definitive text from the Open University AD2000 Millennium Project, the same one which proclaimed the death of nations.

Copyright Sociological Research Online, 1997