Nationalism and the Intelligentsia

Paper Summary:

This paper examines the philosophy of nationalism from the 18th through to the 20th century. It looks at how at the end of the 18th century, intellectuals formulated a great amount of theories concerning nationalism and how through various factors, endogenous and exogenous, nationalism became a much wider spread movement, although still under the aegis of the intelligentsia, politically -with state-controled education for instance- and culturally -with the rise of national art. The paper then looks at how, in contrast, the 20th century was the century of mass warfare and of the growth of totalitarianism such as communism and fascism and how nationalism became more of an ideology of only the lower classes.

From the Paper:

"During all the 17th century, there was a growing interest in the idea of "national character " and " national genius ". One of the first and of the main representant of this move is Rousseau, who theorized this precept. His views were lately qualified as civic nationalism, which is a form of nationalism that places the people before everything, and which bases political legitimacy on the active participation of citizens. " The idea of nationalism takes form historically in tandem with the doctrine of popular sovereignty: that the ultimate source of authority lies in the people, not the ruler or government " dixit the historian M. Crawford Young. "

Sample of Sources Used:

• Liah Greensfeld, Five roads to modernity
• Hobsbawm, Nations and nationalism since 1780
• Josep R Llobera, The god of modernity-the development of nationalism in Western Europe
• MS Anderson, The ascendancy of Europe
• Paul Dukes, A history of Europe

More papers on Nationalism and the Intelligentsia:

• Term Paper # 104024 : "Nationalism and the Founding of Nations"
• Research Paper # 109406 : "Quebec Nationalism and the Council of Federation"
• Research Paper # 38410 : "Nationalism and the Soviet System."

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