Ethno-symbolism

Introduction
Ethno-symbolists, who focus on role of pre-existing ethnic ties and sentiments in

formation of modern nations, have challenged modernists.

According to them, modernists have overlooked the persistence of earlier myths,

symbols, values and memories and their significance for large number of people
Conversi defines it as an approach which rejects the axiom that nations may be

ipso
facto invented, and that they rely on a pre-existing texture of myths, memories values
and symbols which transcend the polarization between primordialism and
instrumentalism

A more homogenous group that lay stress on similar processes in their explanations of

national phenomena, which they think should be examine in a time dimension of

many centuries
According to Hutchinson, the rise of nations needs to be contextualized with the larger

phenomenon of ethnicity which shaped them

The differences between modern nations and the collective cultural

units of the past are of degree rather than kind

The modern era is no tabula rasa, rather a palimpsest
They reject the stark continuism of the perennialists and accord due

weight to the transformations wrought by modernity

They also reject the clams of the modernists by arguing that a greater

measure of continuity exists between traditional and modern eras.

According to Smith, a wider theory of ethnic formation needed. Such an

approach more helpful in three ways.

John Armstrong & Myth-Symbol Complexes

His magnum opus is the pioneering work in the field: Nations before Nationalism
For Armstrong, ethnic consciousness has a long history, even in ancient civilizations.

Contemporary nationalism only the final stage of the larger cycle of ethnic consciousness.
The most important feature of this consciousness is its persistence. The formation of ethnic

identities should be examined in a time duration of many centuries.

Stands firm on his stance that nations did exist before nationalism, but agrees with Anderson

and Hobsbawm that like other human identities, national identity had been an invention.
The disagreement is over the antiquity of some inventions and the repertory of pre-existing

group characteristics that inventors were able to draw upon.

Lays emphasis on boundaries and argues that groups define themselves not by reference to

their own characteristics but by exclusion and comparison.

The symbolic boundaries (myth, symbol, communication, attitudinal factors) according to

him are durable and persistent

 Factors that ensure this persistence are the ways of life & experiences associated with them
For e.g. the nomadic and sedentary ways of life create two different sorts of identities.

Territorial principles in Europe and genealogical (or pseudo-genealogical) principle and its
peculiar nostalgia prevailed in the Middle East
Religion reinforced this basic distinction. Islam and Christianity gave birth to civilizations

and the myths/symbols associated with them shaped the formation of ethnic identities.
The third factor was the city. The effect of town planning and unifying or centrifugal effects

of various legal codes.

He then moves to the role of imperial polities and transference of the consciousness in the

city-state to a larger level of empire. Also myth transference for political purposes.
Language is the last factor he discusses in the process of identity-formation in the pre-

nationalist etc. Significance for ethnic identity contingent in modern era; dependent in the
long run on political and religious forces.

Anthony D. Smith & the 'Ethnic Origin of Nations'

Central thesis is that modern nations cannot be understood without taking pre-existing

ethnic components into account, the lack of which is likely to create impediment to
nation-building
The cases of little ethnic heritage are rare. Usually there has been some ethnic basis for

the construction of modern nations, even if dim memories, element of culture, or alleged
ancestry (which is hoped to revive)
He says to avoid generalizations of both modernism and primordial, some definitions are

needed.
Defines nation as: 'a named human population sharing an historic territory, common

myths and historical memories, a mass, public culture, a common economy & common
legal rights, & duties for all members' - complex, abstract & multi-dimensional
On origin of nations, he asks: 1) Who is a nation? 2) Why and How does the nation

emerge? 3) When and where did the nation arise?

The answer to the first question in earlier ethnic communities (or ethnies). He posits six main attributes for

such communities: a collective proper name, a myth of common ancestry, shared historical memories, one
or more differentiating elements of a common culture, an association with a specific homeland, a sense of
solidarity for significant sectors of the population.
This shows that ethnie is anything but primordial. Characteristics have strong subjective cultural, historical

content.
Smith identifies two main pattern of ethnie-formation: coalescence (coming together of separate units) and

division (subdivision through fission as with sectarian schism or 'proliferation').

Ethnies once formed can be exceptionally durable but they can undergo changes in their demographic

composition or cultural contents. Polar extremes should be eschewed.

Some events however generate profound changed in cultural contents. War, conquest, exile, enslavement,

influx of immigrants and religious conversion etc.

Argues that not even the most radical changes can destroy the sense of continuity and common ethnicity.

Partly due to external forces, like state-making, military mobilization, and organized religion, that help to
crystallize identities.

 Smith in light of these observations, specifies main mechanisms of ethnic self-renewal

The first mechanism is religious reform; the second is cultural borrowing; the third is popular

participation; the final mechanism is 'myths of ethnic election

These four mechanism ensure survival or ethnic communities, and lead to gradual formation of 'ethnic

cores'.
These cohesive and self-consciously distinctive ethnies form the basis of states and kingdoms in later

periods.
Smith begins the answer to the second question (why & how does nation emerge) by identifying two

different types of ethnic communities: lateral (aristocratic) and vertical (demotic); the two types of
ethnies followed different trajectories in the process of becoming nation
Lateral route was 'bureaucratic incorporation', successfully realized in Western Europe.
Vertical route was 'vernacular mobilization'. Indirect role of bureaucratic state, because vertical ethnies

were usually subject communities. Key mechanism of ethnic persistence was organized religion.
Through myths of chosenness, sacred texts and scripts, and the prestige of clergy that survival of
communal tradition was ensured.

Final question, 'where & when did the nation arise?

Nationalism does not help us to determine which units of population are eligible to become nations,

nor why they do so, but it plays an important part in determining when and where nationalism will
emerge.
Not possible without clarifying what nationalism is. Used in 5 different ways:

the whole process of forming and maintaining nations

a consciousness of belonging to the nation
a language and symbolism of the nation
an ideology (including a cultural doctrine of nations)
a social and a political movement to achieve the goals of the nation and realize the national will

nationalism, therefore is 'an ideological movement for attaining and maintaining autonomy,

unity and identity, on behalf of a population deemed by some of its members to constitute an
actual or potential 'nation'
On the other hand, 'core doctrine' of nationalism consists of four central propositions:

The world is divided into nations, each with its own peculiar character, history and identity
The nation is the source of all political and social power, and loyalty to the nation has priority over all other
allegiances
Human beings must associate with a nation if they want to be free and realize themselves
Human beings must be free and secure if peace is to prevail in the world

There are two types of nationalisms according to him: territorial and ethnic
He constructs a provisional typology of nationalisms
Territorial nationalism

Pre-independence: based on civic model, ejects foreign rulers, establishes new nation-state, usually anticolonial
Post-independence: tries to bring together ethnic populations, 'integration' nationalisms

Ethnic nationalism

Pre-independence movements based on ethnic/genealogical model, seeks secession, moves toward ethnonation, these are secession and diaspora nationalisms
Post-independence seeks to expand by including ethnic kinsmen, expand ethno-nation, even through union
of culturally and ethnically similar states: these are irredentist and pan-nationalisms

Two main routes are:

1-Lateral (aristocratic) ethnies-bureaucratic incorporation-civic-territorial nations-territorial nationalisms

(from above, usually led by elites)
2. Vertical (demotic) ethnies-vernacular mobilization-ethnic-genealogical nations-ethnic nationalisms (from
below; usually led by the intelligentsia)