What would you call, for the lack of a better way to put it, "benign nationalism"?

Question

The terms 'nationalist' or 'nationalism' bring back memories of things like Nazi Germany or, at least, former US president Donald Trump's platform. But a political force, without demeaning other nationalities or any jingoism, can simply promote national identity, using and teaching national language at schools, especially when those things are suppressed (for example, in Belarus, Lukashenko discourages using Belarusian which is seen as some sort of opposition agenda). What would you call such a political group or politician, if not nationalist? What is the equivalent of that word but with neutral or positive connotations?

@WeatherVane If a movement in Wales advocated a stronger emphasis on the Welsh language, culture and identity, or in Ireland on the Irish language, or in India on the Hindu and other languages, would we call that patriotic or nationalist? I think "nationalism" is the normal English term, in spite of its ambiguity. I rarely hear "patriotic" in this sense. — rjpond, Mar 22 '21 at 09:14
@rjpond true in that case, but OP asked for a word other than nationialism. — Weather Vane, Mar 22 '21 at 09:21
Indeed, but if "patriotism" isn't the word we'd use, then it doesn't really answer the question. — rjpond, Mar 22 '21 at 09:22
I didn't answer the question, I asked one. Laurel supplied that answer. — Weather Vane, Mar 22 '21 at 09:22
Whether nationalism is positive connotated depends on the reader, replacing the word will not change that. Generally speaking before things go wrong nationalism is positive (like in the USA), after things go wrong it's negative (like in Nazi Germany, seen from today's perspective). — M. Stern, Mar 22 '21 at 11:57
Nationalism encompasses a lot of different things, from the far right through to often leftwing anti-colonial independence movements. It can also involve seeking to unify a prevously divided nation (like Italy in the 19th c). It sometimes involves protecting a language previously discriminated against (Cornwall, Norway, Faroes). The notions of national lang. & national culture and promotion of them are inextricably tied to the history of nationalism. As to the relationship between different nationalisms and whether any of them are beneficial, these questions are well beyond the scope of ELL. — rjpond, Mar 22 '21 at 12:25
As the answers indicate, you can choose words with different connotations, but ultimately an astute person will evaluate what you are saying based on what they think of the underlying idea. Personally, I think that when someone tries to promote national identity as a good in itself, saying that you should do nationalist things as opposed to international or subcultural things, as opposed to, say, defending people's right to have a national identity in the face of forces seeking to erase it, not much stands between that and the "bad" sort of nationalism. — Obie 2.0, Mar 22 '21 at 18:42
Because, of course, that easily leads to the perspective that anyone who does not express that national identity, such as disempowered ethnic groups, dissenters, immigrants, and so forth, is Wrong. If a group says that people should speak Belorusian and should act Belorusian, all that it takes for that to turn into something more directly harmful is for them to take control of the government. — Obie 2.0, Mar 22 '21 at 18:45
I like your own answer, benign nationalism; possibly constructive nationalism would work as well; you could consider the phrase, nation building. I also feel there is nothing wrong with using words according to their denotation, therefore, "nationalism" is really the single best word. — Ootagu, Mar 22 '21 at 18:50
The problem is that you won't get away from the negative connotations simply by changing the word. The idea that the word "nationalism" should have negative undertones is a result of opposed political and cultural forces. Ultimately, those forces are driven by (individuals with) a sincere belief that things like "national identity, using and teaching national language at schools" (or for an example more relevant to modern Western nations, setting citizenship criteria and enforcing immigration law) are inherently wrong things to be doing. — Karl Knechtel, Mar 23 '21 at 08:16
There's also the nuance of promoting the identity of the country, vs. a particular ethnic group that may or may not be the dominate ethnic group of the country (e.g. Kazakhs in Kazakhstan, who went from having their language suppressed under Soviet Russia to being the dominant power in their own country). My impression is that words related to "nation" and "national" (нация etc.) in Russian (which I'm guessing is the OP's native language) tend to connote ethnic groups, more than is the case in English, in which they usually refer to countries. — LarsH, Mar 23 '21 at 15:58
I think rjpond's question about Welsh and Irish is very helpful in searching for a word that fits, though I'm not sure "nationalism" is the answer. What word would you use about an effort to preserve endangered languages and cultures that are not dominant in any country? For example, a movement to teach Navajo in schools in Navajo communities. "Nationalist" doesn't seem to fit here, as it has too strong a connotation of being related to the country, as well as (I think) a connotation of promoting one's own group interests at the expense of others. — LarsH, Mar 23 '21 at 16:07
You could be right there @LarsH but in the example we were asked to think about, Belarusian is the language that is perceived to be the national language of Belarus (legally Belarus has two official languages aiui). So the Navajo example is not a good analogy and we should instead think about Ireland, Finland, Ukraine. I don't claim to be an expert on any of these, but if a group in Finland claims that Finnish language, culture and national identity are being insufficiently promoted, to me that's Finnish nationalism. — rjpond, Mar 23 '21 at 22:51
...whereas if a group in Finland claimed that the Swedish language and culture were being neglected, I would be less inclined to label that Swedish nationalism unless they were also seeking close political ties to Sweden or perhaps greater autonomy for Swedish-speaking regions. The difference is that Finnish is the language most closely identified with the dominant ethnic group in the nation-state, so promoting that language and that national identity is essentially nationalism. (And was also nationalism in the 19th c. when the Finnish language had no official status!) — rjpond, Mar 23 '21 at 22:53
In the Navajo example, one might speak of language rights activism, cultural rights activism, minority rights activism, etc. But in the case of a nation-state where the proposed policy is to intensify people's feeling of national identity (and to promote a national language and national culture for that purpose), then no matter how benevolent and progressive and respectful of minorities they are, that's something different from minority rights. — rjpond, Mar 23 '21 at 23:18

score 27 · Answer 1 · answered Mar 21 '21 at 20:43

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The word you’re looking for is patriotic:

Patriotism generally has a positive connotation. It’s used for various positive sentiments, attitudes, and actions involving loving one’s country and serving the great good of all its people. — “Patriotism” vs. “Nationalism”: What’s The Difference?

answered Mar 21 '21 at 20:43

Laurel

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While the quote does the use word generally, it's getting more and more common to see Patriot and Patriotism used in a very pro-right wing form. This article discusses some of the issues around word ownership. – Jontia Mar 22 '21 at 12:44
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Patriotism and nationalism have overlapping meanings, but not perfectly so. Patriotism is not typically used to describe "promot[ing] national identity, using and teaching national language at schools." – Juhasz Mar 22 '21 at 17:38
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@Jontia Nationalists will often call themselves patriots to make their activities seem more positive. And some of them probably think of themselves as patriots, because they view others as demeaning the country. E.g. many of the insurrectionists on Jan 6 were convinced they were saving the country from a stolen election. – Barmar Mar 23 '21 at 15:37
@Juhasz I'd say the lines are fuzzy due to the rise of the concept of "nation state" which blurs the lines between a "nation" (strictly speaking a distinct group of people) versus the sovereign polity. (Particularly true in the United States, where the concept of a "nation" of unified American people was promoted to bring together the disparate immigrants.) My impression is that "nationalism" (originally) refers to the cultural side of things, whereas "patriotism" refers to the polity. The distinction blurs with a nation state, though. – R.M. Mar 23 '21 at 15:56
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The meanings are aligned when the nation and the state are aligned, however, there are many "benign nationalist" activities whose interests significantly diverge from the state - for example, if the nationalist movement argues for independence, then in that community the patriotic people are anti-nationalist (perhaps pro-"empire" in some way?) and the nationalist people are anti-patriotic i.e. against the current state/polity. – Peteris Mar 23 '21 at 19:01

score 25 · Answer 2 · answered Mar 21 '21 at 22:29

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Promoting the national identity, culture and language of a nation that is perceived to have been oppressed is generally known as "nationalism", despite the ambiguity and possible negative connotations.

For example, the movements for independence in Scotland, Wales and Catalonia are generally known (including by many of their supporters) as Scottish, Welsh and Catalan nationalism.

Other relevant terms include "civic nationalism", "cultural nationalism", and "national independence movements".

In your example, Belarus is already an independent state, so that last term could not apply.

answered Mar 21 '21 at 22:29

rjpond

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'Civic nationalism' and 'cultural nationalism', is it a thing, are those terms common? Never heard it – Sergey Zolotarev Mar 22 '21 at 02:01
@SergeyZolotarev "Civic nationalism" is frequently used in discussions among the Right-wing of politics as a contrast to "ethno-nationalism". – nick012000 Mar 22 '21 at 04:39
@SergeyZolotarev Not especially, but see https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/politicsandpolicy/scottish-nationalism-stands-apart-from-other-secessionist-movements-for-being-civic-in-origin-rather-than-ethnic/ for example. I have never heard the term "patriotism" used to refer to the promotion of national culture or a national language. Those things have always been nationalist ideas. There are also a number of nationalist parties and movements that are generally seen as either centrist or left-leaning. – rjpond Mar 22 '21 at 05:27
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The Scottish National Party takes offence at being called the Scottish Nationalist Party. – Jack Aidley Mar 22 '21 at 09:15
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@JackAidley Yes, because that's not their name. The Democratic Party in the US also sometimes takes offence at being called the Democrat Party. And Irish people sometimes take offence at the use of the term "Eire" by English speakers, because it isn't the correct name in English for their country. Afaik, the SNP don't object so much to the term "Scottish Nationalists" - although they prefer to simply say "SNP". – rjpond Mar 22 '21 at 09:21
This eulogy at the recent funeral of a former SNP leader used the term "nationalist" - https://www.snp.org/tribute-to-former-snp-leader-gordon-wilson/ – rjpond Mar 22 '21 at 09:24
I don’t follow your last sentence. Why does a state’s independence prevent them from promoting nationalism? – ziggurism Mar 23 '21 at 13:16
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@ziggurism It doesn't, I only meant that the phrase "national independence movement" would then no longer be available at an alternative description.. – rjpond Mar 23 '21 at 13:38
Oh so your answer was only about whether the word can be applied to independence movements (despite that not being in the question)? – ziggurism Mar 23 '21 at 13:40
@ziggurism No, my answer isn't only about that. I also consider the term "nationalism" relevant to the example in the question, and I've offered terms such as "civic nationalism" that might help narrow it down. – rjpond Mar 23 '21 at 13:43

score 13 · Answer 3 · answered Mar 22 '21 at 16:52

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Another option (my first choice would probably be patriotism) is national pride, which describes a positive attitude toward one's nationality, together with a sense of unity and alignment.

answered Mar 22 '21 at 16:52

dbmag9

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Rounin · Accepted Answer · 2021-03-28T09:20:23.493

What would you call, for the lack of a better way to put it, “benign nationalism”?

The word for "benign nationalism" is nationalism.

Also, the word for "malignant nationalism" is nationalism.

How can this be? Because Nationalism simply pertains to being oriented towards the Nation.

It's true that, like all group-identity-oriented philosophies, Nationalism focuses on markers which differentiate the in-group from the out-group.

But, of itself, Nationalism contains no implicit misanthropy or philanthropy towards the out-group.

Any given expression of nationalism can be either:

exclusive and hostile towards the out-group
inclusive, sharing and welcoming towards the out-group

or neither.

If a nationalist expression adopts a welcoming perspective towards the out-group, it should be regarded as no less Nationalist.

The terms 'nationalist' or 'nationalism' bring back memories of things like Nazi Germany

This is Far-right Nationalism - which is both exclusive and hostile towards (some or all) members of the out-group. What makes it malignant is not that it is nationalist, but that it is far-right.

Nationalism may be expressed in ways which are highly tolerant of, if not entirely inclusive and welcoming to members of the out-group:

The Velvet Divorce on Jan 1st 1993 was the culmination of successful nationalist movements in the Czech Republic and Slovakia which wanted to take their countries forward separately rather than as a joined-up federation. These nationalist movements were benign - and yet they were, indisputably, nationalist.
The Faroese Independence movement which seeks to establish the Faroe Islands as an independent national state no longer governed by Denmark is a benign movement. But it remains, nevertheless, nationalist.
The London 2012 Olympics Opening Ceremony was a dramatic piece of nationalist pageantry, celebrating world-famous British literary characters (James Bond, Harry Potter), British automotive engineering, British pop music, the NHS... and doing its best to paint a Union Flag on both the invention of the World Wide Web and the Industrial Revolution. In parading these national markers, the show did not seek to exclude the international community, but rather welcome everyone in, saying: "This is what Britain is all about - look at what we've done! We want to share all this with you. We are a country of progress and innovation. Come and be our welcome guests!"

A number of other respondents have suggested that patriotism is the benign counterpart to a malignant nationalism.

This is a common misnomer and it isn't correct because patriotism and nationalism are actually two different things.

Nationalism pertains to the Nation
Patriotism pertains to la Patrie (or the homeland, the motherland, the fatherland)

The first is primarily focused on the in-group as it exists and defines itself today, its current needs and future ambitions, always influenced by the philosophical perspective that what is best for the in-group is of the in-group, by the in-group, for the in-group.

The latter is a quasi-religious, romanticisation of the homeland in which long-standing, half-remembered (or semi-imagined) culture, customs and traditions are venerated.

Nationalism may invoke Patriotism (and far-right nationalism almost always does), but it has no requirement to do so.

Importantly, depending on how it is expressed, Patriotism can be malignant and lean towards excluding others, no less than Nationalism.

In Summary:

Nationalism and Patriotism are both philosophical perspectives but they are not equivalent.

Crucially, both philosophies can be found on both sides of the competitive / collaborative dynamic.

While each centres on markers which differentiate their target demographics from the world outside that demographic, both philosophies may express themselves with hostile or with welcoming intent.

The word for benign nationalism is nationalism.

Good contribution. I largely agree. (We are at risk of getting drawn away from ELL topics and into political philosophy, but I think that is the nature of the OP's question!). Still - given that the term "nationalism" covers such a broad range, how would you distinguish? You mentioned that the far-right variety could be dubbed "far-right nationalism". Would you recommend that the democratic, inclusive nationalists posited by the OP should be labelled in any particular way for greater clarity? e.g civic nationalism, liberal nationalism. — rjpond, Mar 24 '21 at 16:01
Not civic nationalism, certainly - that's usually used in contrast to ethno-nationalism. Though liberal nationalism sounds like a good contender. I'd probably go with your suggestion of Liberal Nationalism, yes. — Rounin, Mar 24 '21 at 16:04

Dmitry Grigoryev · Answer 5 · 2021-03-24T09:37:18.150

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If you want to talk specifically about people in Belarus who fight for the right to use their native language, you could refer to them as to linguistic human rights activists. There's also the concept of cultural rights, which cover a broader set of national or ethnic identity features than just language. Ethnic nationalism could also fit, though it would not be perceived as "benign" anymore by many people.

I wouldn't describe such as "nationalists" at all if all they do is defending their own human rights without trying to do so at the expense of other national groups. I.e. a hypothetical party trying to promote Belarusian by banning other languages in schools or on TV would be "nationalist". A party trying to get the number of schools teaching Belarusian in agreement with the number of kids having Belarusian as their native language is not.

edited Mar 24 '21 at 09:37

answered Mar 22 '21 at 16:31

Dmitry Grigoryev

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"Language rights activism" would work if their prime concern was to promote their language. But if their concern is part and parcel of a desire to promote their national identity in a nation-state they see as their own then I think it is a nationalist policy. As framed in the OP, language is just one part of it. – rjpond Mar 23 '21 at 23:00
@rjpond Exactly, the "nation-state" agenda would actually be nationalist. I'm not sure what "benign" means in this case. – Dmitry Grigoryev Mar 24 '21 at 09:33

score 1 · Answer 6 · answered Mar 26 '21 at 15:46

Requesting a word or phrase, the poster asks:

What would you call, for lack of a better way to put it, "benign nationalism"?

Why not just use the word 'nationalism', but tag it with the phrase "(lower-case 'n')"? This phrase comes from the inverse of the more common phrase, a "With a Capital.." letter, used to show emphasis.

Many words have become politically loaded or carry some pejorative taint, including the words "socialist", "communist", "secular", "patriot", "nationalism", and "liberal", among others. In such cases you can use a form of the phrase "lower-case" to tag that the word should be taken without any loaded connotation. This avoids long explanations.

Examples:

"Bob is a little too liberal (little 'l') in his views for me."
"Marry went to a church retreat. She will live as a member of a communist (lower-case 'c') group that share their time, talent and resources in support of each other."
"Sally visited a group of little 'p', patriots in Washington."
"Most Americans support medical care for wounded veterans, national standards for food, air, and water safety, as well as public schools and Social Security. These are all 'socialist' programs (with a lower-case 's')".
"We all support nationalism, with a lower-case 'n'. No one wants private companies owning and charging us to use our interstates; nor the private ownership of the military, the NTSB, the FBI, or our National Parks."

Zimba · Answer 7 · 2021-03-23T07:32:49.547

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Benign nationalism is patriotism, where patriotism is to place importance of the nation before individual(ism); "nationalism is a kind of excessive, aggressive patriotism", which places importance on one's own country/nation well beyond individualism to over & above other (group of) nations as well.

Communism on the other hand is the belief in a classless society without privacy or private ownership; being "a form of socialism", which allows private ownership but the bulk of wealth is "communally owned and managed by a democratically elected government", similar to getting paid in shares working in a company instead of just cash salary (thereby granting part ownership of property/wealth, in this case the company).

Since nationalism is "aggressive patriotism", benign nationalism would be patriotism.

edited Mar 23 '21 at 07:32

answered Mar 23 '21 at 07:24

Zimba

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Welcome to ELL. Thanks for your answer. To be honest, the paragraph about Communism strikes me as irrelevant to the question, though. – rjpond Mar 23 '21 at 08:38
@rjpond ... and slightly wrong also, since most examples of communism have rather been autocratic/despotic "planned economies". – Stian Mar 23 '21 at 14:03
@rjpond indeed it seems to be in opposition to the answer ... communism (in 1920s Germany at least) was to be feared/disliked because of its internationalist dimension, as the enemy of nationalism, more than any other reason (and its anthem, after all, was the Internationale) – user_1818839 Mar 23 '21 at 19:25
Communism is about the people, nationalism is preference to the country. rjpond - the 2nd paragraph was extra information to aid comprehension. Stian - Communism is classless autocracy (class warfare). Brian - According to Mein Kempf, "1920s Germany" was anti-Communist; more of a Fascist evidenced by il Duce influence on Führerprinzip. – Zimba Mar 25 '21 at 09:03

What would you call, for the lack of a better way to put it, "benign nationalism"?

7 Answers7

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