, . ~ , 14 1 .... r .. ", . """'w..- • 'lit • • • ~ , - . ' . '" PO LIT ICAL SCIENCE hHNONATIONAliSM The Ouest for Understanding Walker Connor Walker Connor, perhaps the leading student of the origins and dyna mics of ethnonationalism, argues that schola rs and policy makers have al­ most invariably underrated the influence of eth nonationalism and mis­ interpreted its passionate and nonrational qualities. Several of these essays, which have appeared over the course of the last th ree decades, have become classics: together th ey represent a rigorous and stim­ ulating attempt to establish a secu re methodological foundation for the study of this complicated and consequential phenomenon. " M ore than anyone el se, Walker Connor invented th e term 'ethnonationalism .' Nationalism cut s across trad itional disciplines, and Connor's influence has been profound not only in political science, but also among sociologists, anthropologists, historians, area specialists, and al l students of ethnicity and nationa lism. His predictions, dating from the 1960s, that 'national consciousne ss is quite definitely in the ascen­ da ncy' and that nationalism would outlive socialism in the Marxist­ leninist stat es, have been totally vindicated by events in the Soviet Union, Eastern Europe, and much of the rest of the world." -John Stone, European University In stitute/George Mason Universiry Th is book will be useful to anyone, from any fi eld, interested in ethnonationalism. Many of the articles were prescient at the ti methey were published. They have not lost their bite or thei r relevance. w -Donald l. Horowitz, Duke Universily "It is excellent to have in one volume these seminal, provocative essays and articles of Walker Connor. His exciting and path brea king contri­ bution has influenced and stimulated thinking about elhnicity and nationalism among a wide ran ge of scholars from a variety of diSCip lines including history, political science, sociology and international re­ lations. " - Anthony O. Smith, London School of Economics Walker Connor is the John R. Reitemeyer Professor of Political Science at Trinity College in Hartford, Con necticut. Among his work s is The National Question in Marxist-Leninist Theory and Strategy (P rinceton). PRlmlDN PAPfR8ACKS ISBN 0-69 1-02563- 0 9 782169 I 2125636 Ethnonationalism THE QUEST FOR UNDERSTANDING Walker Connor PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS PRINCETON, NEW JERSEY ( \ This book is dedicated to -in order of appearance- Copyright © 1994 by Princeton University Press Published by Princeton University Press, 41 William Street, PETER, JOAN, AND DANIEL Princeton, New Jersey 08540 In the United Kingdom: Princeton University Press, Chichester, West Sussex Remember the sequoias . .. All Rights Reserved Connor, Walker, 1926- Ethnonationalism : the quest for understanding / Walker Connor. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-691-08784-9 (cloth: alk. paper) ISBN0--691-02563--0 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Nationalism. 2. Ethnic relations-Political aspects. 3. Ethnicity-Political aspects. 4. Ethnic groups­ Political activity. 5. National characteristics-Political aspects. 6. World politics I. Title. ]C311.C644 1994 323 . 1'1~c20 93-17829 This book has been composed in Adobe Palatino Princeton University Press books are printed on acid-free paper and meet the guidelines for permanence and durability of the Committee on Production Guidelines for Book Longevity of the Council on Library Resources Printed in the United States of America 5 7 9 10 8 6 CONTENTS List of Figures and Tables ix Introduction xi PART ONE: Ethnonationalism and Scholars CHAPTER ONE The British Intellectual Tradition ("Self-Determination: The New Phase") 3 CHAPTER Two American Scholarship in the Post-World War II Era ("Nation-Building or Nation-Destroying?") 28 CHAPTER THREE More Recent Developments ("Ethnonationalism") 67 PART Two: A Closer Look at Some of the Key Barriers to Understanding CHAPTER FOUR Terminological Chaos ("A Nation Is a Nation, Is a State, Is an Ethnic Group, Is a ...") 89 CHAPTER FIVE Illusions of Homogeneity ("Myths of Hemispheric, Continental, Regional, and State Unity") 118 CHAPTER SIX The Seductive Lure of Economic Explanations ("Eco- or Ethno-Nationalism ?") 144 CHAPTER SEVEN Ahistoricalness: The Case of Western Europe ("Ethnonational- ism in the First World: The Present in Historical Perspective") 165 PART THREE: Scholars and the Mythic World of National Identity CHAPTER EIGHT N Man Is a Rational Animal ("Beyond Reason: The Nature of the Ethnonational Bond") 195 viii CONTENTS CHAPTER NINE LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES When Is a Nation? ("From Tribe to Nation?") 210 Index 227 FIGURES 1. Class consciousness reinforces ethnonational consciousness 157 2. Class consciousness rivals ethnonational consciousness 157 TABLES 1. Comparability Categories 77 2. Comparison of Median Family Incomes 150 3. Self-perceived Class 159 INTRODUCTION A LIKELY first response to the title of this book, Ethnonationalism, is "What is it and how does it differ from just plain nationalism?" The answer is that there is no difference if nationalism is used in its pristine sense. Unfortunately, this is rarely the case. As will be discussed in chapter 2 and more fully in chapter 4, slipshod use of the key terms, nation and nationalism, is more the rule than the exception, even in works purportedly dealing with nationalism. As used throughout this book, nation connotes a group of people who believe they are an­ cestrally related. Nationalism connotes identification with and loyalty to one's nation as just defined. It does not refer to loyalty to one's coun­ try. Admittedly then, ethnonationalism has an inner redundancy, and it is used solely to avoid any misunderstanding concerning our focus. Throughout this work, nationalism and ethnonationalism are treated as synonyms. The body of this book consists of nine essays whose publication dates span a quarter-century. The interest of Princeton University Press in publishing such a collection was first raised by Sanford Thatcher nearly twenty years ago. Although excited by the prospect, I allowed myself to be sidetracked by a series of other projects. My interest in publishing a collection on nationalism persisted, however, and several articles that I produced during the 1970s and 1980s were written with an eye to their inclusion. As a result, when Gail Ullman of Princeton University Press raised anew the question of whether I would be interested in publishing a series of my articles on nationalism, I had several more from which to select. Gail Ullman suggested I select articles that "would focus primarily on the theoretical issues involved in studying nationalism." Consonant with this advice, it is the study of nationalism, and not the politics of nationalism, which forms the interconnecting theme of the various chapters. This is not to say that the political consequences of ethnona­ tionalism are ignored. Indeed, contrasting the literature on political de­ velopment with actual political developments is a major element of the critique of scholarship in Part 1 of this book. Nevertheless, had the title of this book been The Politics of Ethnonationalism, a completely different selection of writings would have been made. All of the articles are reproduced essentially as they first appeared. The political map underwent numerous significant changes since the xii INTRODUCTION INTRODUCTION XIll earliest piece was published in 1967, of course. The number of inde­ least exaggerated. Because of this encounter with the Hayes of the pendent states grew by nearly 50 percent, from approximately 120 to 1920s, my own subsequent work has reflected a strong respect for the 180. Overseas colonial empires continued to dissolve. The overland, influence that ethnonationalism exerts on human perceptions and be­ multinational empire, which had been formed by the Russian czars and havior. It is my hope that a few of my earlier pieces, read from the ruled over by Marxist-Leninists during its last seven decades, decom­ vantage point of the 1990s, may help to generate among others a simi­ posed into fifteen separate "republics." Two states that had been cre­ lar respect for the power and influence of the ethnonational factor. ated at the end of World War I under the banner of self-determination The schema of this work is as follows: Part 1 reviews how various of nations, Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia, also sundered along eth­ scholars have perceived ethnonationalism and its political conse­ nonational lines. The Bengalis of Eastern Pakistan seceded to create quences. It begins (chapter 1) with a multigenerational debate among their own state. Cyprus underwent a de facto division into Greek and some of Britain's most esteemed nineteenth- and early twentieth-cen­ Turkish components. The two Germanies were reunited as were the tury scholars concerning the viability and desirability of the multina­ two Vietnams. Ethnonationally inspired struggles continued to prolif­ tional state; and it measures the accuracy of their conclusions against erate. But on balance, all these developments appear to support rather the yardstick of actual political developments. Chapter 2 notes that than challenge the general analytical framework presented in the fol­ the school of thought called "nation-building," which dominated the lowing chapters. In those relatively few instances where it was believed literature on political development in the post-World War II United necessary to update the material, asterisks, highlights, and brackets