what are the factors that lead to the emergence of nationalist feeling ?
Answers
The clue is in the word ‘spirit’. There are two common uses of this word, the one proposing the ‘non-material’ soul of a person, the other referring to the ethos, or essence of an object or time. These merge in the expression ‘spirit of nationalism’, so that the immaterial and idealized nature of the concept emerges.
Idealization as a psychological phenomenon is one of the ‘defence mechanisms’ used to ameliorate psychic pain (guilt, anxiety). One form of psychic pain is caused by our appreciation of emotional and moral complexity. We suffer when we are aware of our conflicting responses to the real world and the real people in it; responses as opposed as empathy for the plight of Syrian refugees and self-interest in the form of wanting stronger border controls.
There are situations however when we need to act in ways that would be intolerable if we were to maintain this level of awareness. Idealization is one defence we may then employ.
For example, when we must enter a tribal conflict (in modern terms, a war situation), those conditioned emotional responses that serve us so well in civilian social interactions, would debilitate us (and get us killed) in battle. They would undermine our group resolve. It is easier to idealize - to separate the two parties into angels and demons - rather than to appreciate that every last man and woman on ‘the other side’ is a complex loving/hating human being.
Another example is known as ‘falling in love’. Human beings struggle to accommodate their instinctual self-interest to their need for social and sexual partnership, which involves accepting so many irritating differences (of opinion, desire and intention). The hostility (and consequent anxiety) that would be generated by being close enough to another person long enough to ‘bond’ (become identified with), would preclude any long-lasting child nurturing relationship, were it not for idealization. Idealization ensures that everything we admire and believe is good about ourselves now belongs to the other, who has no fault. Hopefully this idealization lasts long enough for true bonding to occur.
In terms of nationalism then, it is a form of ‘falling in love’ with the putative nation - an object which may not even yet exist - and which in all honesty (complexity) is composed of a host of individuals one might ordinarily detest. It is one of those tribal situations, not as extreme as ‘war’, but along the road. In order to defend a common self-interest we eliminate our perception of complexity and declare ‘our nation’ (our lover) a perfect angel, against whom any contrary action is a sin.
This is why wars so often follow on the rise of nationalistic (idealistic) spirit. That is one of the functions of nationalism. To simplify the options, and prepare the way to war.
Our world faces many complex threats, all of which ultimately stem from our technological ‘success’, which nature cannot accommodate, and we cannot yet control (over population leading to global warming and resource depletion). Rather than confront the reality of this complexity we instinctively seek for simpler less demanding solutions, invoking the spirit of nationalism, as in Trump, as in Brexit.
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