The Anti-nation: Otherness and Ideological Radicalisation

Abstract

Scholars and policy makers alike are becoming more aware of the role the link between nation and other plays in shaping national identity, particularly when governmental policies institutionalise practises of othering where ‘the other’ is considered as being outside of, different than, external to or less than ‘the nation’. Nowhere is this practise more extreme than in cases of genocide. This being the case, it is surprising that the role of othering in nationalist ideology radicalising towards genocide has received little attention within nationalist and genocidal theory dialogue, something this chapter seeks to rectify. In doing so, I hope to provide a more comprehensive foundation and vocabulary for discussing elements of otherness throughout the radicalisation process.