Socialism and Nationalism

Bibliographic Data

ID23673884
AuthorsBenjamin Darr (Loras College, corresponding author)
Year2015
Pages1-3
Publication date2015-12-30
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeCHAPTER
VenueWiley Blackwell Encyclopedia of Race, Ethnicity and Nationalism (SOURCE_BOOK)
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1002/9781118663202.wberen503
OpenAlexW2429068755
ISBN9781118663202
LanguageEN
Citations received5
References cited1

Socialism has an uncertain relationship with nationalism. Prominent socialists who have grappled with the national question have arrived at three different answers. First, many socialists, hearkening back to Marx and Engels, are adversarial to nationalism and see the nation‐state system as a product of capitalism that creates mass markets and also divides and conquers revolutionary forces. Other socialists, such as Lenin, take an instrumental approach to nationalism, arguing that nationalist movements are necessary for the liberation of the working class and that national identity is a force that should be harnessed, even if grudgingly so, by the socialist movement. Finally, many have seen nationalist and socialist goals as congruent. It seems that, over the course of modern history, nationalism has successfully domesticated socialism, diverting it from its initial global ambitions and instead channeling its forces into the nation‐state.

Aesthetics · Capitalism · Communism · Identity (music) · National identity · Nationalism · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Socialism · Sociology · State (computer science) · State socialism · Balkans: History, Politics, Society · Law · Philosophy · Soviet and Russian History · Turkey's Politics and Society

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