The Nationalism Debate: Past and Present
| Published date | 01 March 2017 |
| Date | 01 March 2017 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/0019556117689853 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
Article
Indian Journal of Public
Administration
63(1) 1–12
© 2017 IIPA
SAGE Publications
sagepub.in/home.nav
DOI: 10.1177/0019556117689853
http://ipa.sagepub.com
1 President, Council for Social Development, New Delhi, India.
Corresponding author:
Muchkund Dubey, President, Council for Social Development, 53 Lodi Estate, New Delhi-110 003,
India.
E-mail: csdnd@del2.vsnl.net.in
The Nationalism
Debate: Past
and Present
Muchkund Dubey1
Abstract
The nation states have emerged and been shaped through an evolutionary pro-
cess. The major factors triggering their emergence have been rise of capitalism,
breakdown of empires, independence of colonial territories and, in recent years,
the disintegration of large federal states. The character and the authority of
nation states have been shaped initially by the interstate system of the Treaty of
Westphalia and largely by the French Revolution and the United Nations (UN)
Charter, rise of regionalism and globalisation. Nationalism continues to thrive
and remain dominant all over the world mainly because its possible substitutes
such as global capitalism, socialist internationalism and UN multilateralism did
not prove viable. The major challenges the nation states face today are coping
with new problems arising within their territories and those which affect the
very survival of mankind. The Indian nationalism embraces the entire variety
of elements which go into the making of a nation state. It has been a subject of
bitter controversy starting from India’s independence movement. To be true to
its ethos reflected in the Indian Constitution, it must remain pluralistic, inclusive
and humanitarian.
Keywords
Nationalism, capitalism, struggle, sovereignty, globalisation
Definition and Evolution
Hugh Seton-Watson, one of the earliest authorities on the subject of nationalism,
has stated in his book Nations and States: ‘no scientific definition of the nation
can be devised’.1 Yet, he states, the phenomenon has existed and still exists.
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