According to A. D. Smith, tribes have only the first and second character-
istics. ‘Ethnie’ have the first five. Nations have all seven. Some post-colonial
societies are collections of tribes and/or ethnie and therefore lack at least two
of the seven features – cultural differentiae and group sentiment – because of
the arbitrary nature of colonial boundaries (Smith, A. D., 1971, pp. 186–90;
2001). Groups supporting secessionist movements, though usually having a
sense of cultural identity, are not universally distinct ethnically. Secessionist
groups may be ethnically heterogeneous. Nationhood may be claimed, but
whether this is justified raises many problems of subjective and objective
definition (Symmons-Symonolewicz, 1965; Rustow, 1967; Snyder, 1976;
Wood, J. R., 1981). The subjectivity is captured in the definition of ‘nation’
employed by Rejai and Enloe:
a relatively large group of people who feel that they belong together by
virtue of sharing one or many such traits as common language, religion or
race, common history or tradition, common set of customs, and common
destiny. As a matter of empirical observation, none of these traits may
actually exist: the important point is that people believe they do. (Rejai
and Enloe, 1969, p. 143; see also Paribatra and Samudavanija, 1984;
Connor, 1988)
A subjective belief that people constitute a nation that deserves political
recognition is more important than the objective definitions of historians
and social scientists. Emerson’s judgement about anti-colonial nationalism
may well apply to ethno-nationalism: ‘The simplest statement that can be
made about a nation is that it is a body who feel that they are a nation; it may
be that when all the fine-spun analysis is concluded this will be the ultimate
statement as well’ (Emerson, 1960, p. 102; Eriksen, 1993, pp. 11–12).
Secessionist alienation arises from a perception of special bonds between
people which distinguish them from other communities within the nation-
state (Enloe, 1973, p. 15). Referring to secessionist movements in South
Asia, Wright claims that ‘the sociological characteristics of the various
provincial populations are at the heart of their demands for autonomy or
secession. All of the movements have asserted the primacy of particular cri-
teria of identification which render the populations minorities in the coun-
try as a whole even if majorities locally’ (Wright, 1976, p. 8). In Kashmir
and Nagaland the principal factor is religion, in Tamil Nadu, East Bengal
and Baluchistan, it is language.
The ethnic foundation for nationalism is important not only because it
provides a criterion for defining a nation, but also because it is central to the
debate about what causes nationalism and separatism, and whether ethnicity
Nationalism and Secession 199