Nation-state Formation Research Articles

Have I Got News for You

The discussion on Neo-feudalism, in scholarship and politics, the way Neo-feudalism is conceptualized and contested, reflects deeper problematic cultural and political dynamics. This article argues the debate is framed in a tinted fashion, particularly regarding method; Neo-feudalism is essentially a neo-romantic project, a desire to return to the European past as a universal future. The article responds to Evgeny Morozov’s ‘Critique of Techno-Feudal Reason’, published in the New Left Review. Morozov’s critique is exemplary as it ignores the collective subject and reifies much of what “the nineties crowd”, often referred to in the debate, argued against, especially in terms of epistemology. This article critically recasts the ‘lord’ in Neo-feudalism and contrasts it with ‘master-slave’ dialectics, ironically placing aristocracy and the politics of Balkan nation-state formation into the picture. This article situates the discussion within the context of Greek politics and the rise of Syriza, emphasizing the need for a nuanced understanding of power relations in the digital age and the importance of addressing the epistemological foundations of contemporary capitalism in relation to rising nationalism in Europe.

Establishing a Harmonious Society: The Approach of Sahih Bukhari Hadith in Addressing Socio-Political Issues in Malaysia

Malaysia is a country with a socio-political landscape that consists of various religions and races. The socio-politics of the country often experience tensions and face multiple challenges in managing social pluralism. Among the issues that arise when dealing with the challenges of diversity in society include prejudice between races, ethnic identities that hinder unity, and differences in thoughts, beliefs, and habits among races. This situation calls for an alternative approach to building a society that can foster harmony, peace, and positive interaction among the different races, religions, cultures, and ethnicities. The achievements to create a pluralistic society must be based on elements such as political stability, community cohesion, and national harmony. This study utilised a qualitative method by examining data and analyzing documents, including observations on current issues in socio-politics. The primary data for this study is derived from the book Sahih Bukhari. The objective of the study was to analyze the solutions for building a pluralistic society from the perspective of Sahih Bukhari hadith and apply the values of social justice, harmony, political stability, and social cohesion in a pluralistic society. The results of the study revealed that the Sahih Bukhari hadith contains comprehensive guidance to inculcate values such as social justice, harmony, stability, and social cohesion, which ensure the formation of the Malaysian nation-state. The study’s implications show that Sahih Bukhari’s hadith is a source of reference for formulating policies and strategies to address socio-political issues in Malaysia. The values contained in the Hadith Sahih al-Bukhari contribute to the formation of a more harmonious and united society.

Glissant and the Politics of Coordination

This is an ironic moment for Edouard Glissant’s growing community of readers. So many are discovering Glissant’s work for the first time, myself included, in part because a fervent commitment to a politics of recognition now dominates in many corners of the humanities. This is ironic largely because while the choice to engage with Glissant might be motivated by an all too generalized logic of recognition, to read Glissant is to learn about how the basic premises underpinning this logic are deeply misguided. The politics of recognition, as a term of art, after all, is built on the conceptual planks made available by the standardizing impulses of the nation-state form and capitalism combined. Glissant, on the other hand, is nothing if not a theorist calling fervently for a path forward that does not depend on the complicities found in the conceptual imperialism inherent to the bureaucratic standardizing practices that bolster both the nation-state and contemporary capitalism. Glissant calls instead for an approach that offers the philosophical building blocks for a politics of coordination, which is described in Patchell Markell’s book, Bound by Recognition (2003) as a politics of acknowledgement. This politics entails forgingan alternative approach to the self and other, to identity and place, and to social orders in general than what the politics of recognition espouses.

Defend the Nation, Crush the People: Desertion and Civil War in Greek Macedonia, 1916–17

ABSTRACT The creation of compact nation-states out of multi-ethnic empires in the Balkans was accompanied by bouts of ethnic cleansing. Critical histories of the emergence of the modern Balkan states have consequently tended to focus on ethnic violence. However, state violence often targeted the ‘dominant’ ethnic group as well, as its centralizing and modernizing agenda put it at loggerheads with traditional sources power and autonomy. Conscription was perhaps the most important dimension of state-building, as it sought to buttress the state’s military machine, all while demanding significant coercive power to register, draft, and discipline young men. Conscription thus came up against intense popular resistance, especially in the decade of total war of the 1910s. In Greece, this spiralled into episodes of virtual civil war. This article focuses on resistance to the draft during the first recruitment drive of the National Defence Government in Greek Macedonia, with special emphasis on the Chalkidiki revolt of 1916–17. It uses this case study to explore broader trends about the formation of the modern Balkan nation-states.

Embodied national history: leaders, regime change, and regional historiographical trends of independent Cambodia

Abstract Post-independence national historical writings have often been seen as a product of nationalist advocacy and modern nation-state formation. Moving beyond this perspective, this article considers how political leaders took a direct role in promoting different kinds and forms of collective historical thoughts to strengthen their leadership. Specifically, the article explores an active engagement of independent Cambodia's leaders such as Prince Sihanouk, Lon Nol, and Pol Pot, who independently saw national historical understanding as one's own monopolized source of power. It also discusses how different historical accounts in the country were shaped by, and kept up with, other important factors such as Cold War confrontations and regional and global historiographical trends, including “Modernist” and “Marxist” approaches. Discussing these factors helps us understand more critically national historical accounts, which were closely intertwined with specific socioreligious and political circumstances such as political rule and legitimacy, widespread public anxieties, and geopolitical tensions. It also sheds light on the substantial impact of state-imposed historical interpretations on society. As informed by the Cambodian case, this impact can be seen in the implementation of state projects stirred by certain kinds of historical understanding which consequently transformed the living conditions of thousands of people.

‘달리뜨스탄(Dalitstan)’: 인도 식민지 말기 달리뜨 분리주의의 맥락과 성격

History of Modern India witnessed the struggles and negotiations of Dalits, the former Untouchables to secure their rights in various fields. Their movement, with its various stages from collective awakening to political entitlement, and to new cultural identity making, has primarily been led by B. R. Ambedkar. All these activities of Dalit movement have persisted amidst political upheaval of national movement and state formation in India. Dalits, facing the late-colonial and early republican circumstances, had to construct their own identity which survived the ‘all-embracing’ Hindu identity and to secure the safeguards as a minority while being recognized as the equal citizens of Republic of India. This research pays attention to the separatism of Dalit community suggested by Ambedkar during the 1940s and onwards. In the political process of the 1930s, he established a separate Dalit party and demanded separate electorates to become a political entity separate from Hindus, which was not fulfilled as his original demand. During the state-formation period of 1940s, separatist ideas have been presented by various minority groups. Ambedkar suggested his idea on geographical separatism for Dalits. The demand for separate settlements was proposed along with the political entity separated from Hindus through separate electorates, appropriate representation in public offices and budgets. Unlike the separatism of religious minority groups, Dalit separatism was not aimed at establishing an independent nation-state but was a practical alternative to overcome the poor economic base of Dalits and escape caste Hindu discrimination in villages. Dalitstan had the meaning of a liberated zone for Dalits without caste Hindu discrimination and oppression. Therefore, Dalit separatism should be understood as a political discourse of minority groups in the context of state formation rather than another partition.

Civilization in the Face of Sociology

The article is a brief overview of the concepts that exist in sociological science from the moment of its inception to the present and related to civilizational issues. The peculiarities of this branch of knowledge, which arose during the Great Industrial Revolution, in the era of the formation of nation-states, led to the fact that for a long time sociologists did not use a civilizational approach, the idea of civilization prevailed as a certain stage in the development of society, opposing “barbarism”, in the age of Enlightenment (F. Guizot), and in the twentieth century (N. Elias). At the same time, it is possible to identify a certain attitude to civilizational issues in Marxism, and in an alternative approach to it, which the author calls technological (D. Bell, O. Tofler with J. Gelbraith adjacent to them), and in the concept of the “world-system” by I. Wallerstein, and in geoeconomics by F. Braudel. The article analyzes the contribution to the sociology of civilizations of the classics of the civilizational approach (N.Y. Danilevsky, O. Spengler, A. Toynbee, P. Sorokin). Special attention is paid to the “civilizational turn” in sociology in the 1970s, primarily related to the works of Sh. Eisenstadt and continued at the beginning of the XXI century by Aronson, as well as the concept of Russian civilization in the works of sociologists D. Nielsen and I. Yakovenko. The article raises theoretical questions about the civilizational approach from a sociological perspective, first of all, the scientific possibilities to identify specifically cultural and value cores of various civilizations, including Russian, to define Russian civilization in relation to the concepts of Eastern Christian civilization and Soviet civilization, as well as the degree of its universalism and autarkism.

Ottoman archaeology between the Self and the Other: archaeological ethnography and the transborder research potential of the SW Balkans

ABSTRACT Religious syncretism alongside the coexistence of various groups of people and their shared material culture was a reality in the Ottoman-era Balkans. Such entanglements remain underrepresented in archaeological theory and practice because of the temporal proximity of the subject to the present and due to the cultural and identity politics of nation-state formation. This article offers a method to delve into the aforementioned archaeological context through a combined investigation of textual evidence, survey and archaeological ethnography. The case studies presented draw from the cultural landscapes and the material culture of the transborder area of Northwest Greece and Southern Albania. Emphasis is placed on the agency of the local actors who dwelled in the region and are often neglected when placed in the context of the broader accounts of the Ottoman era.

Educational Policy and Activities of East India Company (1600-1765)

Abstract: The 19th century witnessed a profound transformation in the political landscape of many regions, characterized by the rise of nationalism and the subsequent formation of nation-states. This research work delves into the historical context, key drivers, and consequences of this significant historical phenomenon. The research offers light on a crucial time in global history by investigating the causes of nationalism and its effects on the formation of nation-states. Employing a multidisciplinary approach, the research draws from historical, political, and sociocultural perspectives to analyze the rise of nationalism. It delves at how many peoples inside established empires and territories felt a feeling of commonality due to their shared cultural, linguistic, and historical identities. The work delves into the influence of Enlightenment ideas, Romanticism, and intellectual movements that fueled the concept of self-determination and the sovereignty of distinct nations. The study also scrutinizes the role of key historical events and figures that catalyzed the nationalist fervor. From the unification of Italy led by Giuseppe Garibaldi to the German unification orchestrated by Otto von Bismarck, the work examines the strategies employed to consolidate fragmented territories into cohesive nation-states. It also considers the implications of these transformations on regional stability, diplomacy, and balance of power. Furthermore, the research investigates the potential tensions arising from the juxtaposition of national identities and existing imperial structures. It delves into instances where nationalism clashed with multiethnic empires, often leading to complex negotiations of autonomy, self-governance, or secession.

Projects and Realities of Forming a Great Eurasian Space

Aim. Analyze three options for the development and construction of the Eurasian space (Russian, Chinese and Turkic) and identify the advantages and risks associated with both the expansion of integration processes and external influence on states that are members of coalitions of the nonWestern world.Tasks. To trace the evolution of supranational structural formations in the Eurasian space after the collapse of the Soviet Union and their appearance in declarations, agreements and other legal documents, starting with statements about “the formation and development of a common economic space, pan-European and Eurasian markets”.To identify the characteristic features of globalization of all spheres of human existence, which has given rise to the need to understand the “landscape of global risks”, “global existential catastrophe” as an event leading “to the end of the existence of our descendants”, which together determined the transition to the formation of nation states, geopolitical and geo-economic coalitions in the Greater Eurasia space (“Central Asian Five”, EEAS, SCO, CSTO, UTC).Results. The concept of three main projects for the construction of Greater Eurasia is substantiated: Russian, based on the revival of the Eurasian ideology of N. S. Trubetskoy, P. N. Savitsky and G. V. Vernadsky; the Chinese “Belt and Road”, aimed at transforming the idea of the Great Silk Road into a Community of a Common Destiny for Humanity; Turkic, claiming to recreate the Turkic civilization with the goal of “bringing world civilizations closer together” on the Eurasian continent.The author’s position is argued regarding the need to ensure coplanarity and unidirectionality of the three vectors of implementation of Eurasian projects with the consistency of political decisions and actions of the three poles of power in the Greater Eurasian space — Russia, China and Turkey.Conclusions. Currently, the coordination of political decisions and actions of the three poles of power in the Greater Eurasian space, taking into account the principles of convergence of national interests in interstate unions, global geopolitical processes of multi-agent interaction and global security strategy in a polycentric world, is becoming relevant.

Theorizing Interreligious Relations

Abstract This article is an attempt to think through how interreligious relations might be theorized. It will show how conventional assumptions about interreligious relations can be traced to colonial understandings of the category religion, which determine what we classify as interreligious. I argue that interreligious relations, as we understand it today, developed through the rise of secular nationalism, when religion and politics were purportedly separated as a means of reordering European power structures aligned with Christianity during the formation of the modern nation-state. This rearrangement of power gave rise to Christian ecumenism, which helped pave the way for an evolving secular governance that eventually developed into multicultural pluralist societies in a postcolonial world. This article shall demonstrate how the assumptions that underlie contemporary interreligious relations have little to do with the relationships of people with different religious identities, as one might expect, but instead serve to promote national narratives of pluralism that uphold the liberal ideologies authorizing Western multicultural societies today.

VIEWS OF THE NATIONAL ELITE OF THE COSSACK ERA ON THE MONARCHICAL FORM OF GOVERNMENT

At the present time, when the Ukrainian state is going through a difficult process of defending its independence, it is important to study the historical origins of our statehood, which shows the process of state formation in Ukraine. Specifically, it is important to understand the historical experience of the Cossack statehood during the latter half of the seventeenth century, including the challenges it faced in terms of foreign policy and international relations. In the mid-17th century, Europe underwent a period of social and political development marked by the formation of national states and the establishment of bourgeois relations. Ukraine was not exempt from these pan-European processes. The Ukrainian liberation struggle aimed to create an independent Ukrainian state and introduce new social and economic relations based on small-scale (in fact, farmer-type) Cossack ownership of land. During the latter half of the 17th century, the Cossack state was divided between two forms of government due to the hetmans’ desire to establish a monarchy. However, the Cossacks’ senior officers (starshyna) firmly adhered to republican principles, primarily defending their own class interests. This article aims to elucidate the unique characteristics of the political culture of the Cossack officers and their inclination towards establishing a monarchical form of government. The article’s methodology is grounded in general scientific principles and methods of cognition, with the aim of providing an objective and comprehensive coverage of facts, events, and phenomena. It is based on the principles of historicism and objectivism in scientific research, which prioritize factual material and avoid subjective evaluations. The topic was approached using general scientific and specific-historical research methods. Sources and literature were analyzed and synthesized, research was structured using periodization, historical material was presented using problem-historical method, and similar indicators and facts were compared using comparative- historical method in the same historical conditions. Result: Yet even the monarchical tendencies were essentially democratic: the legitimacy of power, the public-law rights of Cossack officers, the preservation of local self-government bodies and legal procedures give all the reasons to assert that there were prospects for the development of the European-like monarchical form of government in the Ukrainian Cossack state of the second half of the XVII century. Conclusions: The knowledge gained from studying this topic can be used to prevent, forestall, or overcome various crises that inevitably arise during the determination of public policy in various areas of public life.

Migration, Borderland Subjectivity and the Novel Form: Reading Temporary People

The novel form has been traced as contemporaneous with the nation-state form and is associated with a homogenous speaking community. This article concerns itself with the role of affect in sustaining a community in a condition in which the distinction between the agent of capital and that of community is not unconditionally or ahistorically available. Drawing its theoretical apparatus from the conceptualisation of post colony by Achille Mbembe, and on studies of rumour, and contextualising itself in the contractual labour practice known as kafala and the exclusionary practices of citizenship in the countries of the Arab Gulf, this article argues that the reproduction of the exploitative capital/state along the axes of community produces both the capital/state and the community along affective lines, and away from the bureaucratic coldness or democratic openness that is supposed to characterise them. Taking Deepak Unnikrishnan’s Temporary People, as an instance of a novel produced from such a milieu, the article pays attention to the figure of the reader because traditionally scholarship has put the onus of the effects of the novel such as nationalism as the affordance of the figure of the reader. The article illustrates reconfigurations in the form of the novel and suggests that it is through fallibility rather than efficiency that power operates both as oppressive and resistant.

Royal Supremacy and Its Influence on the Formation of Early British Nation-State

Tudor Dynasty is in the transitional period of modern Europe. On the one hand, it is characterized by the struggle of religious power and kingship. On the other hand, it is featured by the formation and development of the early nation-state. This paper briefly discusses the "royal supremacy" of Tudor Dynasty in England and the development of the early nation-state in British and the concrete manifestation of "royal supremacy" and expounds the influence of it on the formation of British nation-state from the following five aspects: economy, political institutions, law, local administration and national consciousness. By analyzing the definition of "royal supremacy" and its influence on the formation of the British nation-state, it is helpful to grasp the development process of modern countries and the particularity of the formation of different nation-states, so as to better grasp the law of British historical development. In a word, "royal supremacy", as the result of the religious reform, greatly promotes the formation and development of the British nation-state in the early modern times in the specific historical period.

The good intentions of federalism

The article is devoted to substantiating the controversial thesis that federalism is not an autonomous type of political structure. Federations are interpreted as a set of specific failures of different origins in the course of following the basic modern scenario of the formation of a unitary nation-state with a consolidated (civil) political identity. The article has for theoretical basis the actor approach, which interprets the political form of the federation as a derivative result of a conflict pact between the central and peripheral elites. In this methodological perspective, the history of the concept of federalism is examined and a comparative historical analysis of the world federal experience is carried out. As a result, a number of interrelated author's conclusions were formulated. First, it is shown that the original Kantian project of a world federation of states has little in common with federalism, which refers to the description of the internal structure of individual societies. Secondly, the conclusion is substantiated by the fact that in the modern theory of federalism a harmful mainstream tradition has developed, which scales as a normative successful experience the centralizing federalism in the United States. Thirdly, the cultural and historical features of the formation of two families of federations are highlighted and analyzed, one of which is associated with the acquisition of independence by offshoots of the West, and the other was formed by the later processes of the collapse of the colonial empires of the West and the liberation of colonies in Africa and Eurasia. Fourthly, it is argued that the federal political structure at the theoretical level was intended to reconcile, at the basis of the political project of Modernity, the liberal utopia of a universal and culturally homogeneous civil nation and the actual cultural diversity of any modern states, which is a permanent source of erosion of its political sovereignty and differentiation of collective identities. Fifthly, it is proved that all derived political, legal, economic and other signs of federalism are due to one initial problem - the legitimation and subsequent institutionalization of the conflict between the central elite and regional elites, challenging the indivisibility of political sovereignty and demanding political autonomy. Sixth, federalism as a changeable pact of elites in specific historical societies does not provide convincing grounds for its qualification as an autonomous political form compared to a unitary nation-state. The final conclusion is that the political format of federalism in most states is a long-term way of formalizing the political divorce of cultural communities that could not create a common political nation.

BEYOND THE ARAB SPRING: FLAKES OF PRE-NATION-STATES HISTORICAL HERITAGE OF THE ARABS

This article talks about the Arab Spring phenomenon using a different perspective. The author tries to guide the historical factors of the formation of nation-states in the Middle East and North Africa after the collapse of the Ottoman Turkish Empire with various factors that have a significant influence. Moving on from the failure of the unity of the Ummah which was carried out by the spirit of Pan-Islamism of the Ottoman Turks, which was followed by the failure of Pan-Turkism and Pan-Arabism, brought the Muslim community into the trap of narrow nationalism that was regionalistic and very tribal, group, and sectarian. These tribal, group, and sectarian fragments have a big contribution in creating the pre- and post-Arab Spring conditions that haven't found the dream; democratization, non-discrimination, and social and economic equality. Another assumption, Islam, as the main religion of Arab society, gives a positive response, or at least passively for the continuation of narrow nationalism which is identical to the interests of small groups and is contrary to the spirit of the unity of the ummah. This research uses a qualitative approach with a case study method to explore processes, activities, and events. The data data taken from relevant documents and uses a holistic analysis technique by narrative-descriptive approach. In the end, this research concludes the typical tribalist and sectarian Arab culture and historical factors contributed to the gaps in Arab society which culminated in the Arab Spring.

Language and literature in the information economy: the state of English, English and the state

The impact of colonialism and empire and then of transport, logistics, advertising, media, cinema, radio, tourism, and the internet extended the global reach of English. With 1.13 billion speakers, one in seven in the world now has some English competence. Within this global circulation of English, we have the global teaching of English language and literature, most recently captured for Britain in a June 2023 British Academy report, the relevant findings of which are the decline in the information age and under neoliberal governments of university students reading English Literature and the rise of Creative Writing and world literatures in translation. I distinguish global from world Englishes as the hegemonic language of global trade and finance from more bottom-up Englishes mixed with other languages on the streets; discuss the state of English studies globally; and propose decolonising and denationalising the curriculum. The notion of national languages, identifying a language with national unity, is a very modern idea, only about three centuries old and arising with the formation of modern nation-states. We might use the lived histories of global and world Englishes to transcend both romantic revolutionary and far-right exclusionary nationalisms in literary and language studies in favour of more cosmopolitan, multilingual, and convivial approaches.

Новый взгляд на национально-государственные преобразования на юге РСФСР: Рец. на: Гунаев Е. А. Национальные автономии Юга России в советский период: территориальное устройство и система управления (на примере Калмыкии) / отв. ред. К. Н. Максимов. Элиста: КалмНЦ РАН, 2022. 400 с.

The review was devoted to the monograph by E. A. Gunaev (Kalmyk Scientific Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences) “National Autonomies of the South of Russia in the Soviet period: Territorial Structure and Management System (on the example of Kalmykia)” (Elista: KalmSC RAS, 2022. 400 p.). The monograph was written on the basis of a wide range of sources and literature, including 30 files from 6 funds of 3 state archives, 425 publications of documents and research. E.A. Gunaev identified three stages in changing the administrative-territorial structure and management system in the national autonomies of the South of Russia: 1920–1943, 1944–1976, 1977–1991. Each stage is presented in a separate chapter of the monograph. The author proposed a historical and legal analysis of the problems under consideration with an emphasis on the study of regulatory aspects. Of significant interest is the study of the problem of legal succession between national autonomies, recreated after the rehabilitation of repressed peoples, and their national-state formations before forced eviction. E.A. Gunaev distinguishes between the categories of continuity, legal continuity and succession, and analyzes the possibilities of their use within the framework of the issue under consideration.

Impact of Britishs East India Company on Indian Education Policy

Abstract: The 19th century witnessed a profound transformation in the political landscape of many regions, characterized by the rise of nationalism and the subsequent formation of nation-states. This research work delves into the historical context, key drivers, and consequences of this significant historical phenomenon. The research offers light on a crucial time in global history by investigating the causes of nationalism and its effects on the formation of nation-state.Employing a multidisciplinary approach, the research draws from historical, political, and sociocultural perspectives to analyze the rise of nationalism. It delves at how many peoples inside established empires and territories felt a feeling of commonality due to their shared cultural, linguistic, and historical identities. The work delves into the influence of Enlightenment ideas, Romanticism, and intellectual movements that fueled the concept of self-determination and the sovereignty of distinct nations. The study also scrutinizes the role of key historical events and figures that catalyzed the nationalist fervor. From the unification of Italy led by Giuseppe Garibaldi to the German unification orchestrated by Otto von Bismarck, the work examines the strategies employed to consolidate fragmented territories into cohesive nation-states. It also considers the implications of these transformations on regional stability, diplomacy, and balance of power.

The impact of migration on state-building and national identity

Abstract: Global migration, which became widespread in the second half of the twentieth century, has become not only an important factor in social transformations but has also caused significant changes in the ethno-national context. The dynamic nature of contemporary migration flows requires constant study of changes in the mechanisms and strategies of national identification and state formation. Thus, the urgency of the problem, as well as the insufficient theoretical and practical development, determined the relevance of conducting a study in this area. The study used systematic analysis, analysis and synthesis, induction and deduction, empirical approaches (document analysis, content analysis, and observation), modeling and deconstruction. The study aims to examine how migration affects national identity and state institutions, accounting for opportunities and obstacles for state-building initiatives.