Religion and Nationalism

Abstract

This article offers a first attempt to understand the relationship between religion and nationalism. It first addresses the absence of a discussion of religion in the literature on nationalism. Some of the most prominent authors, including Ernest Gellner, Benedict Anderson and Eric Hobsbawm, have all largely neglected the role of religion in their discussions of the rise of nationalism by focussing on economic factors. A proper understanding of the development of nationalism should incorporate the direct and indirect influences of religion. Second, this article lays out an initial classification of the different ways in which religion and nationalism interact. I identify a number of degrees of influence which religion has on nationalism. In the first case, religious nationalism, religion and nationalism are inseparable. In other national movements, religion plays a less dominant role, merely assisting the more prominent nationalist movement as a cohesive element. This article concludes with an explanation of the importance of this relationship. Ultimately, the type of religious nationalism affects what type of nation state develops. The stronger the religious influence on the national movement, the greater the likelihood that discrimination and human rights violations will occur.

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