The notion of political community is not new. It has been there since antiquity. Even the earliest barbaric tribes had some form of political organisation and authority. Ever since alongside the growth in human population & advancements in technology, the political community has evolved to meet the new challenges. One of the most pernicious myths which originated around the beginning of nineteenth century and dogmatically taught in the academic curricula all over the world is the notion of nation state.
The nation state conflates two ideas nation & state.The state is a political entity. It is concrete & it’s purpose is clear. It is an organising principle that allows people to pool their resources for common benefit & moblise resources against dangers threatening all the members of political association.. It is legitimate & final arbiter of law & ultimate source of rights of its subjects. It’s most important feature is its unquestionable sovereignty. In contrast to state, nation is a cultural community organised around certain common features like race, language, common history, religion etc. It is necessary for the members of a cultural community to have certain common features to qualify as a nation.. As a matter of fact there isn’t is a single element or set of elements that could safely be considered to be valid determinant of nationhood. It is impossible to find a state that is truly a nation or a nation that is truly a state. Even smallest of states is an assortment of people of heterogeneous cultural, lingual, religious or ethnic identities with secessionist tendencies towards separate nationhood along the fault lines. The fundamental contradiction is that the contours of the cultural community don’t necessarily coincide with those of political community.. A group of people may have all the common features to qualify as a nation and yet lack sovereign character to be called a state. On the other hand a state may be a juxtaposition of people of diverse identities lacking a national character.
This is where the nation state is somewhat a misnomer…The nationalism as the ideology of the modern nation state is the most powerful object of the contemporary world. Nation state undoubtedly accounts for much of the human blood spilled throughout the history. Nationalism being inherently divisive has been at the heart of international conflict. The utopian ideology of nation , the identification it requires, extreme allegiance it demands, the propagandist machinery it uses to indoctrinate pernicious creed putting it beyond good or evil and recognising no other moral duty than that of advancing national interest. The radical nationalism combined with racial hatred was a key factor behind the Holocaust. Nationalism glorifies war through the cult of fallen soldiers & promises a kind of heroism & immortality to all who die for the nation through commemorative ceremonies.
Nationalism popularized imperialism and was the leading factor behind most bloody wars including world war I & II. Nation is re-emergence of barbaric tribe in the modern period with large scale destructive potential and perpetual hostility. An entity which has wreaked havoc for centuries lacks even a basic definition of what constitutes a nation. Nation is a social construction, an imaginary political community weaved through historical fantasies & fictional stories that people have come to accept as truth.
The nations in the contemporary world are no longer living in watertight compartments. We are living in an extremely hyper-connected & interdependent world where the policies & actions of a political leader in one part of the world have huge impact on the lives of people in other parts of the world. These national actions matter more to the world than ever before. A decision to carry out a nuclear test may kill aquatic & marine animals or pollute the air & water which belongs to all of us. The benefits of science and technology have come fraught with unprecedented destructive potential on a global scale. Therefore if the statesman’s ability to do good so is his ability to do more harm than ever before in the history of mankind. The national interest, desire to control more & more of world’s resources, balance of power doctrine & nuclear arms race assumed to guarantee survival & sovereignty of Nation state have brought world’s nations on the brink of nuclear apocalypse..
The globalisation of economy, citizenship, technology & culture has rendered the nation state anachronistic. Many of the our contemporary problems like environmental pollution, global warming, climate change, ozone depletion, terrorism , interstate disputes on resources and questions of sovereignty, human rights abuses technological disruption etc are by their very nature, scale & impact global problems and require global response. These problems never recognise nation states and their sovereignty & yet our nation states actually work on the principles that hinder cooperation & united response to the global challenges which are existential threat to entire mankind.
Our political systems were designed to solve national level issues and cater to the demands of political community. Our political systems are yet to scale up to respond to this global reality. Since political leaders are elected by a limited electorate they are responsible to cater to the demands of limited electorate. We need to rethink the utility of Nation state while marching ahead towards a better form of political organisation. This isn’t just political but an attitudinal and behavioural change. This requires a shift in the way we perceive the world around us. There is a dire need for a broader approach to visualise the world. We need to look beyond our parochial identities. The loyalties need a shift. The order of precedence of multilayered loyalties will need an overturn with loyalty to global society at its top. Policy & priorities will have global orientation & focus.
The parochial outlook has to give way to a broader outlook. The elements, values & symbols in the academic curriculum aimed at cementing the bonds of nationalism will have to be replaced to imbibe global concerns, universal human values and rights. I’m of the opinion in a shift from national towards a global government lie solutions to many of our contemporary global problems. We need to redefine self interest which to me means enlightened interest. World is a single family & we are the members of this global family if we want survival of our family, we have to act globally.
(The author is a teacher by profession)
shahidlangate@gmail.com