State of Nationalism (SoN): Nation-Building

Abstract

A new approach to the study of nation-building: onset, process, outcome Nation-building refers to the policies that core group governing elites pursue toward non-core groups in their effort to manage social order within state boundaries in ways that promotes a particular national narrative over any other. Such policies may vary widely ranging from assimilationist to exclusionary ones. 1 Moreover, the content of the national narrative or constitutive story varies dramatically from case to case. 2 The systematic study of the process of nation-building intensified following the Second World War primarily in relation to decolonization movements and the associated establishment of postcolonial independent states around the globe. 3 However, the field was initially dominated by assumptions and logics developed based on European experiences with nation-building. We would not be that interested in nation-building were it not for its far-reaching impact on state formation and social order, self-determination movements, war onset, and public goods provision. The desired outcome of nation-building is to achieve social order and national integration. 4 Nation-building, when successful, results in societies where individuals are primarily loyal to the nation. This process of national integration facilitates military recruitment, tax collection, law enforcement, public