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Modernity and Minority Nationalism: Commentary on Thomas Franck

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 September 2012

Will Kymlicka
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Abstract

Focusing on the nature of modern nationalism, Kymlicka asserts that Franck overstates the dichotomy of so-called romantic tribal nationalism and traditional nationalism as seen in the United States and France, which Franck claims is liberal, inclusive, and based on political principles rather than blood lines. Using examples from France, the United States, and Quebec, Kymlicka shows that language and common identity as well as liberal principles of freedom and democracy compose modern liberal nationalism. More sympathetic to minority nationalism than Franck, Kymlicka argues that minority movements are not irrational but often based upon legitimate claims, claims that majorities frequently fail to take seriously. Kymlicka concludes in agreement with Franck that minority nationalists should have greater representation at the international level, not simply as a means of pacifying minority nationalists but in the interests of international justice.

Type
Articles
Information
Ethics & International Affairs , Volume 11 , March 1997 , pp. 171 - 176
Copyright
Copyright © Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs 1997

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References

1 Franck's distinction between “revolutionary” and “romantic” nationalism is very similar to other typologies of nationalism—for example, between “civic” and “ethnic” nationalism or between “Western” and “Eastern” nationalism. I have tried to discuss some of the typical confusions in these typologies in “Misunderstanding Nationalism,”Dissent (Winter 1995), 130–37Google Scholar.

2 For a history of language rights in the United States, see Kloss, Heinz, The American Bilingual Tradition (Rowley, MA: Newbury House, 1977Google Scholar).

3 For a careful evaluation of Quebec's immigration policy, see Carens, Joseph, “Immigration, Political Community, and the Transformation of Identity: Quebec's Immigration Policies in Critical Perspective,” in Carens, J., ed., Is Quebec Nationalism Just? (Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press, 1995), 20–81Google Scholar. He argues that Quebec's immigration policy “is morally legitimate and fully compatible with liberal democratic principles.” Indeed, he concludes by saying that it may “provide a model for other liberal democratic societies, particularly in Europe, of a way to combine a strong sense of national identity with a deep commitment to liberal democratic values” (74).

4 For a discussion of attitudes toward immigrants in Catalonia, see Medrano, Juan Díez, Divided Nations: Class, Politics and Nationalism in the Basque Country and Catalonia (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1995)Google Scholar, esp. 158–61.

5 For a survey of the attitudes of minority nationalists/secessionists toward free trade, see Bob, Davis, “Global Paradox: Growth of Trade Binds Nations, But It Also Can Spur Separatism,” Wall Street Journal, June 30, 1994, AlGoogle Scholar.

6 Or so I argue in Multicultural Citizenship (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995), ch. 5.Google Scholar

7 See Shafir, Gershon, Immigrants and Nationalists: Ethnic Conflict and Accommodation in Catalonia, the Basque Country, Latvia and Estonia (Albany: SUNY Press, 1995)Google Scholar for a recent study of the extent to which different minority nationalisms are open to immigrants.