ABSTRACT
We have defined nationalism in the previous chapter, not as popular loyalty to the state which is legalistic and Eurocentric, but as a special type of politicized social consciousness that obtains from and within society. If this is so, then our task in this chapter is to find out the social basis of consciousness. What makes social consciousness as such possible? Are there historical antecedents of national consciousness? If so, what have been the typical conditions conducive to the rise of such consciousness? Is national consciousness different from other forms of group consciousness, both historical and contemporary? And what are the specific conditions necessary for the rise of different categories of social consciousness?
