ABSTRACT
This chapter revisits classical theorizations of nation and nationalism, including its often-complacent view of nation-formation and nationalist politics. The chapter accordingly argues that it is the race-conscious analyses as developed within cultural studies, as well as complementary branches of postcolonial theory, that allowed for a fuller and more circumspect view of nationalism’s enduring appeal and dangers alike. Particular attention will be given here to the often racialised practices of Othering that act as the constitutive reference against which nationalist politics in the west orients itself. Contrary to most classical reckonings with the subject, it will be suggested that nationalism is rarely just or even primarily a politics of belonging. It will instead become apparent that its political mandate most often rests on assertions of non-belonging – wherein nationalism is a politics of exclusion that renders the often racialised Other the outsized object of political anxiety. These twin emphases – on ‘Othering’ as well as its overdetermined role within political discourse – have of course become particularly acute amidst the early 21st century moment within which this chapter is situated. Attention will therefore be also directed towards the material implications of these recently rejuvenated nationalisms – including the centrality of ‘borders and bordering’ to contemporary nationalist statecraft as well as situating today’s Global South nationalisms outside of a west/non-west framework. Key theorists that will feature across these reflections include: Benedict Anderson, Hannah Arendt, Partha Chatterjee, Paul Gilroy, and Achille Mbembe.
