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Nation Nationality and Nationalism
Last Updated On: 06-Nov-2021Posted On: 06-Nov-2021
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Nation Nationality and Nationalism topic coveredTo understand nationalism and nationality, one must first have a working definition of the terms nation[/i] and state[/i]. A nation[/i] is a self-identified cultural group that regards itself as distinctive in some fundamental and significant way. There is no particular attribute that a group must have in order to qualify as a nation, but language, ethnicity, and religion are the three most common bases of national identity. Nationality[/i] is the aspect of identity that derives from one’s membership in a nation. Typically, members of a nation imagine themselves to share a common history that binds them both to one another and to a given territory, and this sense of mutual attachment feels natural even if its objective bases are sometimes exaggerated or even invented. Despite the subjective origins of national identities, they possess an objective status that shapes how individuals regard themselves and are treated by others. Most scholars regard nationalism as a modern phenomenon due to its explicit association with states, which are a product of modern European history. States[/i] are the territorially based political units that structure global politics today; their provenance is conventionally attributed to the [url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/history/modern-europe/treaties-and-alliances/peace-westphalia]Peace of Westphalia[/url] (1648). During the period spanning the age of imperialism in the latter half of the nineteenth century through the years of decolonization in the mid-twentieth century, all of the world’s territory and peoples came to be organized politically as states. As statehood emerged as the fundamental mode of political organization during these years, nationalism became the standard means of legitimating state authority, with extant political communities reconceived as nationalities.