international politics and, perhaps more importantly, the concept of nationhood
undermines that claim. Even the softest, most civic, nationalist will be forced to
concede that their nation is special, for how else can they explain the value of
nationhood? Of course, if we say, as liberals do, that the individual is the ultimate
source of value and focus of concern, a similar objection can be raised: your
individual life is especially valuable to you. However, because the nation-state
entails a massive concentration of power the ethical particularism within nationalism
is of special concern. On the other hand, a world of nation-states may offer the
best way to realise values such as freedom, justice and equality, and a history of
nationalism that focused on cases of virulent nationalisms may fail to do justice to
nationalism as a liberationist ideology.Questions
- Is a multilingual nation inherently unstable?
- Is nationalism compatible with individualism?
- Are nationalism and socialism compatible?
- What is a fair immigration policy?
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Books and Chatto & Windus.Chapter 12 Nationalism 277