Showing papers by "Daniele Conversi published in 2012"

Irresponsible Radicalisation: Diasporas, Globalisation and Long-Distance Nationalism in the Digital Age

Abstract: The growing scholarship on ethnic diasporas has prompted various off-shoots. Two significant directions are the relationship of diasporas with globalisation and their role in the expansion and radicalisation of ethnic conflict. The corporate enthusiasm of the 1990s for globalisation has been followed by sombre reflections on its destructive impact upon a vast array of areas, including inter-ethnic relations worldwide. This article explores one crucial aspect of this wave of disruption*the rapid expansion of radical forms of long-distance nationalism, often leading to a stress on maximalist goals and an abdication of responsibility. It conceptually distinguishes between stateless diasporas and diasporas that conceive themselves as tied to, and represented by, an existing ‘nationstate’. Examples include ethnic lobbies from the former Yugoslavia, greater Han xenophobia among overseas Chinese, and Hindutva technocratic chauvinism among Hindu-Americans. Finally, the article identifies the onset of ‘online mobbing’ or ‘cyber bullying’ as a new and ominous trend in Internet radicalism.

Modernism and nationalism

Abstract: Various scholars have addressed nationalism as a distinctive political ideology. The majority of them recognize it as a product of modernity and as inseparable from it. This article begins by accepting this view, identifying the spread of nationalism as part of a broader process of Westernization. However, the all-encompassing ideological dimension and common thread hovering above nationalism is identified here as modernism—that is, the sum of ideological discourses, artistic expressions and political practices gravitating around the ‘need to be modern’. Modernist notions like ‘progress’, ‘growth’, ‘advancement’ and ‘development’ have been largely conceived within national frameworks and applied within a world of ‘nation-states’. Moreover, given the selective ways in which ruling elites used the vocabulary of modernity, the very ‘perlocutionary’ effect of labelling opponents as ‘anti-modern’ often became a sufficient condition for their exclusion. The article discusses whether modernism can be identified ...

Majoritarian democracy and globalization versus ethnic diversity

Abstract: While some types of democracy can sustain ethnic and cultural diversity, others can clearly undermine it. In The Dark Side of Democracy, Michael Mann argues that extreme crimes like genocide and ethnic cleansing tend to occur, or at least be legitimized, within a majoritarian democracy framework. This article broadens Mann's approach in two directions: first, it confirms that majoritarian democracy in plural societies can provide the pre-existing institutional context where conflict, nationalism and exclusion can thrive, eventually degenerating into self-destruction. Second, it focuses on the tendency by some governments to turn to patriotism and populism as sources of legitimacy at a time when the latter appears to be crumbling. In addition, the article questions both the ‘democratic peace’ and the ‘failed democratization’ approaches for their reliance on an ideal type and fixed notion of democracy, arguing that the latter has been weakened by neoliberal globalization, particularly as it interacts with t...

Nación, estado y cultura: por una historia política y social de la homogeneización cultural

Abstract: Expanding on the concept of «nationalization of the masses», the article explores the processes of cultural homogenization as a recurrent pattern in the formation and expansion of the European «nation state» until after World War II. It argues that such practices could not be systematically conceived before the French Revolution and the ensuing wars. In fact, large-scale homogenization was hardly practicable before the Twentieth century, mostly due to the lesser bureaucratic control and the lack of adequate military technology. With Paris as its global epicentre, the process radially spread eastward through waves of progressive Westernization. While identifying nationalism as the dominant identity of the modern era, the article illustrates with a wealth of examples its recurrent overlaps with patterns of cultural homogenization, once nationalism is seized by the state. We maintain that the three intertwined conditions, cultural homogenization, genocide and nationalism, reached their peak during the two world wars and under the totalitarian rule built upon attempts to prolong the patterns of mass mobilization induced by war. In synthesis, the article affirms the need to engage in a social and political history of cultural homogenization as a sweeping and far-reaching set of events which profoundly affected almost every aspect of modern societies.

Cultural Autonomy, core values and Europe's legacy: a response to Joshua A. Fishman

Abstract: In response to Joshua Fishman’s article, this paper examines the fate of the principle of national cultural autonomy (NCA), first theorized within the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and later revived within contemporary Europe. It posits that NCA can be more easily implemented in cases where culture is built around a set of shared core values and cultural elements, including language. Yet, an exclusive focus on language may not lead to a vibrant pluralistic society where various forms of culture coexist and interact