Ethnic Nationalism Definition

The study of nationalism has received a significant attention in the understanding of global politics. This is precisely because of the two political realities of our lifetime which are the territorial definitions and ongoing civil unrest caused by the social groups who believe they are marginalized in the international system. This is often in the name of separation from the dominant social groups or states. So the following essay will define and outline the different varieties of nationalism. Furthermore, the essay will also differentiate between a state and a nation to make an account of whether we are living in the world of states or the world of nations.

Nationalism is a political phenomenon that can take different forms. Nonetheless,

However there has been three prevailing types of nationalism in the post-cold war namely; ethnic nationalism, civic or social nationalism and state or official nationalism. Ethnic nationalism usually stands for an ideology or a movement of an ethnic group whose mission is to form a nation-state based of their common features or characteristics such as language, race or any other cultural characteristics that create a sense of belonging to what they might perceive as a state. In many instances, ethnic nationalism is more focused in preserving and keeping the ethnic solidarity of a certain group and seek to keep it continuity and its traditions. In this case the struggle of keeping ethnic identity is perceived as an expression of ethnic nationalism. In this instance ethnic groups will employ whatever means necessary to preserve their ethnicity. A good example to this would be the conflicts in Rwanda in 1994 termed “Rwanda Genocide” where a group of a particular ethnic group called Hutu which felt marginalized employed extreme means in its attempt to preserve its ethnicity. Hutus were denied government positions, quality education and were subject to hard labour as a result they took it upon themselves to address these injustices inflicted on them in the hands of the

This type of nationalism is a situation where buy a nation define itself culture and social links or ties rather than common descent. In this form of nationalism outsiders are welcome to join the group by integrating to the culture and adapting to its society. Unlike in ethnic nationalism this form of nationalism has more to do with secondary community more than primary community. This kind of nationalism is mostly acquired by Diasporas and immigrants. After obtaining the citizenship the ethnic community is therefor expected to integrate the nation fully and comply with their ways of