Nationalism- not just for the nasty things in life

The distinction between nationalism and patriotism? "Smug nonsense", writes Ceri Ames, "usually spoken by those from dominant ‘nationalities’ who have never understood the ‘minority’ nation’s refusal to assimilate".

With the by-election victory in Glasgow East, the SNP has again reminded the rest of the UK of its existence, and just how close Scotland is to a referendum on independence. And, as usual, the prospect of this brings out the usual lines. The most common relies on pointing out how much English money is invested in Scotland, and how much Scotland relies on English subsidies, as though an independent Scotland would be instantly cut adrift from the rest of Britain, and an economic iron curtain thrown across the border.

Similarly, the opposite argument, of Scotland and England’s interdependence, is also misplaced. Many independent states are economically interlinked (Denmark linked its membership of the EU with the UK’s due to its economic ties).

Eventually, then, the argument against nationalism is rolled in. Nationalism is narrow-minded, aggressive and exclusive, and, if not actually violent, could easily become so. It is usually contrasted with patriotism, which is a “devotion to a particular place and a particular way of life, which one believes to be the best in the world but has no wish to force upon other people”, according to George Orwell. Patriotism is inclusive, born of love for country, rather than hatred of another. At this point, to drive home the argument, the Nazis or the BNP are mentioned as nationalists par excellence.

Now, I’m not going to deny the bad things that have been done in the name of nationalism, but I do want to question two points.

First, the distinction between nationalism and patriotism. For me, this is just nonsense. Moreover, smug nonsense, usually spoken by those from dominant ‘nationalities’, who have never understood the ‘minority’ nation’s refusal to assimilate. This is JS Mill, the classic British liberal:

“Nobody can suppose that it is not more beneficial to a Breton, or a Basque of French Navarre, to be brought into the current of the ideas and feelings of a highly civilized and cultivated people—to be a member of the French nationality, admitted on equal terms to all the privileges of French citizenship, sharing the advantages of French protection, and the dignity and prestige of French power—than to sulk on his own rocks, the half-savage relic of past times, revolving in his own little mental orbit, without participation or interest in the general movement of the world. The same remark applies to the Welshman or the Scottish Highlander, as members of the British nation.”

It pretty much sums up the mental world of the British elite over the last few centuries, and explains their bafflement at our mystifying desire for independence.
Without complicating things too much, just consider how British or American ‘patriots’ have behaved, whether in building empires, or just generally bombing small countries, all in the name of British civilisation or defense of the American way of life. The only difference between patriotism and nationalism is the extent to which one is happy with the status quo and one wants change. It is no coincidence that the rise of English nationalism has occurred over the last 15 years or so, as fears of the EU grow in the UK.

If nationalism was simply based on hatred of difference, or even one particular ‘other’, and intolerance, then we would not have seen the enthusiasm for the EU shown by many European nationalists of non-state nations.
In fact, patriotism is a lazy, self-satisfied, complacent phenomenon, just as capable of sleep walking into violence as any foaming at the mouth nationalism, and just as capable of turning into hatred of those ‘threatening’ it.

Conversely, my own (Welsh) nationalism is in no way ‘exclusive’ (we need all the people we can get). I would consider myself to be a lot more tolerant than most English (or any other) patriots. I just believe that an independent Wales would be a lot more like the kind of place that I want to live in than a Wales within the UK, and would also probably do a better job of nurturing our talent and culture than the UK has managed. Beyond that, it implies almost nothing about my political beliefs. Can I just ask not to be compared to Hitler because of this?