Nation

A nation is a type of social organization where a collective identity, a national identity, has emerged from a combination of shared features across a given population, such as language, history, ethnicity, culture, territory, or society. Some nations are constructed around ethnicity (see ethnic nationalism) while others are bound by political constitutions (see civic nationalism).^[1]

A nation is generally more overtly political than an ethnic group.^[2]^[3] Benedict Anderson defines a nation as "an imagined political community […] imagined because the members of even the smallest nation will never know most of their fellow-members, meet them, or even hear of them, yet in the minds of each lives the image of their communion",^[4] while Anthony D. Smith defines nations as cultural-political communities that have become conscious of their autonomy, unity and particular interests.^[5]^[6] Black's Law Dictionary also defines nation as a community of people inhabiting a defined territory and organized under an independent government.^[2] Thus, nation can be synonymous with state or country. Indeed, according to Thomas Hylland Eriksen, what distinguishes nations from other forms of collective identity, like ethnicity, is this very relationship with the state.^[7]

The consensus among scholars is that nations are socially constructed, historically contingent, organizationally flexible, and a distinctly modern phenomenon.^[8]^[9] Throughout history, people have had an attachment to their kin group and traditions, territorial authorities and their homeland, but nationalism – the belief that state and nation should align as a nation state – did not become a prominent ideology until the end of the 18th century.^[10]

^ Eller 1997.
^ ^a ^b Garner, Bryan A., ed. (2014). "nation". Black's Law Dictionary (10th ed.). Thomson Reuters. p. 1183. ISBN 978-0-314-61300-4.
^ James, Paul (1996). Nation Formation: Towards a Theory of Abstract Community. London: SAGE Publications. Archived from the original on 6 October 2021. Retrieved 15 September 2019.
^ Anderson, Benedict R. O'G. (1991). Imagined communities: reflections on the origin and spread of nationalism. London: Verso. pp. 6–7. ISBN 978-0-86091-546-1.
^ Smith, Anthony D. (8 January 1991). The Ethnic Origins of Nations. Wiley. p. 17. ISBN 978-0-631-16169-1 – via Google Books.
^ Smith, Anthony D. (1991). National Identity. London: Penguin. p. 99. ISBN 9780140125658.
^ Eriksen, Thomas Hylland (2010). Nationalism and Ethnicity (3rd ed.). London: Pluto Press. p. 119.
^ Mylonas, Harris; Tudor, Maya (2023). "Varieties of Nationalism: Communities, Narratives, Identities". Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/9781108973298. ISBN 9781108973298. S2CID 259646325. a broad scholarly consensus that the nation is a recent and imagined identity dominates political science
^ Mylonas, Harris; Tudor, Maya (2021). "Nationalism: What We Know and What We Still Need to Know". Annual Review of Political Science. 24 (1): 109–132. doi:10.1146/annurev-polisci-041719-101841.
^ Kohn, Hans (2018). Nationalism. Encyclopedia Britannica. Archived from the original on 15 January 2022. Retrieved 12 January 2022.

[FOOTNOTEEller1997-1] Eller 1997.

[black-2] Garner, Bryan A., ed. (2014). "nation". Black's Law Dictionary (10th ed.). Thomson Reuters. p. 1183. ISBN 978-0-314-61300-4.

[3] James, Paul (1996). Nation Formation: Towards a Theory of Abstract Community. London: SAGE Publications. Archived from the original on 6 October 2021. Retrieved 15 September 2019.

[4] Anderson, Benedict R. O'G. (1991). Imagined communities: reflections on the origin and spread of nationalism. London: Verso. pp. 6–7. ISBN 978-0-86091-546-1.

[Smith1991-5] Smith, Anthony D. (8 January 1991). The Ethnic Origins of Nations. Wiley. p. 17. ISBN 978-0-631-16169-1 – via Google Books.

[6] Smith, Anthony D. (1991). National Identity. London: Penguin. p. 99. ISBN 9780140125658.

[7] Eriksen, Thomas Hylland (2010). Nationalism and Ethnicity (3rd ed.). London: Pluto Press. p. 119.

[8] Mylonas, Harris; Tudor, Maya (2023). "Varieties of Nationalism: Communities, Narratives, Identities". Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/9781108973298. ISBN 9781108973298. S2CID 259646325. a broad scholarly consensus that the nation is a recent and imagined identity dominates political science

[Mylonas-9] Mylonas, Harris; Tudor, Maya (2021). "Nationalism: What We Know and What We Still Need to Know". Annual Review of Political Science. 24 (1): 109–132. doi:10.1146/annurev-polisci-041719-101841.

[10] Kohn, Hans (2018). Nationalism. Encyclopedia Britannica. Archived from the original on 15 January 2022. Retrieved 12 January 2022.

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