Gellner defines nationalism as a theory of political legitimacy that states that ethnic boundaries within a state should not separate those who hold power from those who are governed.
Nationalism is a necessity arising from a certain kind of division of labor, which is complex and constantly changing in chain relations arising from the structure of industrial society. In order for this structure to survive and reproduce itself, there is a need for a national education and communication system, which are effective caregiver tools of the state. A high culture with national education and communication systems spreads to the whole society, defines the society; the administration of that country has to support this high culture. The culture that is transformed into a superculture can be pre-existing or derived. Nationalism is, after all, the coincidence of culture and political administration.
Nations can only be defined in the context of the age of nationalism. The homogeneity provided by the defining high culture does not arise as a result of nationalism; A homogeneity imposed by an objective inevitable necessity eventually appears as nationalism. It is nationalism itself that creates nations, and it appears as a valid paradox that nation and nationalism give birth to each other.
Gellner explains the concept of modern society with a social structure in which no sub-community that is large enough to run an independent education system can no longer reproduce itself. A political unit that is too small to contain the educational pyramid necessary to reproduce itself cannot function effectively; political units cannot be smaller than the pyramid requires.
Being a member of a nation is not an inborn trait. The fact that two people belong to the same nation only depends on their accepting each other as members of the same nation. Gellner states that every high culture pursues a state of its own, but the number of potential nations in the world far exceeds the number of states that can be maintained. The nationalization claims of potential nations pose a problem for the nation-states that include them. One criterion for examining the book is the generalization of the intellectual freedom of action that was the driving force of early nationalism. Using the criterion of generalization of freedom of movement, it can be examined whether the perception of nationalism as a problem - as explained above - will cease.
The common economic structure of the advanced industrial society, which makes people dependent on a standardized culture in large areas, necessitates a continuous and complex education in order to gain social acceptance. In this sense, the fact that nationalism continues to be a necessity can be evaluated as a second criterion that can be used to analyze the book.
Yorumlar