zamanında aldığım insanlık ve toplum dersleri kapsamında yazdığım ve çekmecemde bulduğum başka bir makalemi sizlerle paylaşıyorum. belki ödev falan yaparken işinize yarar. ya da ne bileyim ilginizi çeker, okursunuz.
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"A nation is a large-scale solidarity, constituted by the feeling of the sacrifices that one has made in the past and of those that one is prepared to make in the future." (Ernest Renan) Since the French Revolution fundamentally changed the world demographic structure, there have been very different theories trying to explain the reason behind the increasing number of various nations. Thinking nation as a constitution that is formed by race, language, religion and geography is very common, but this way of thinking blocks the facts behind the nationalism which creates a problematic issue and makes it harder to see the reasons of constituting nations is actually spiritual that are based on remembering the past and celebrating the present together.
Nation is not depended on race, religion, language or geography. Firstly, to base on nation to race is not acceptable since ancient Egypt or China is nothing but flocks led by the Son of the Sun or by Son of Heaven, says Renan. Nation is not an antiquity term; it is relatively new term. (Nearly after the French Revolution, it became a real difficult issue) If race were so dominant to determine the nations, it would be very hard to continue the European civilization which is generally constituted by the multi-ethnical countries like Germany, England or France. Instead of being seperated in themselves, they actually form a new kind of sense of belonging together: European Union. Secondly, geography and borders are not very important components to determine the nation so that they are very abstract and temporary in uniting people. And also border cannot be source of forming a nation since it is actually created by the people on the maps. For example, several years age in Turkish film called "Propaganda" there was a scene that showed a man and a woman, who were from the same village before State seperated their village while forming frontiers of the country, kissing each other while there is a wire fence (border) between them. This shows us that border cannot avoid people to have same sense and belonging together. Lastly, religion and language is thought to be the essence of the nation but when one examines the examples, it is very brief that there is nothing more false than this idea. For instance, Prussia where only German is now spoken, spoke Slav a few centuries ago. In Switzerland, there are four different languages to be spoken. Additionally, when one looks at the today's nations, it is very clear that in the same nation there are Muslims, Catholics, Orthodoxes, Protestants and Jewish living together. All of the conditions show us that in order to have a nation, it is not a necessity of having same religion, race or language. As a conclusion, it can be clearly seen that race, geography and language which are very useful tools to unite people, are not very determining factors on nations.
In creating nation what is more important and crucial factor than race, language and geography is unity and forgetting the past identity that helps state and little groups to gain advantages socially and economically. "Nation building" was a functional requirement of modernization. Modern economics required a literate, educated workforce which in turn required integrating the lower classes into a common culture through standardized public education, Kylimcka proclaims. When one looks at the United States, it can be clearly observed that the immigrant, education and social right policies are formed for the continuity of the American economy. There is no bad effect on immigrant when they follow the mainstream and oney the general will (speaking same language and knowing the same history); the system, which connects the minority to the common, is beneficial both for state and themselves. But when the issue is taken from another side, the whole story is different. Nonimmigrant minorities, like native-born Americans are being faced with the oppression of the learning English and speaking it and sharing the history not to avoid the integrity of the mainstream economy or policy. (Kylimcka) It is very brief to understand that erasing the minor differences in country by the tool of education is required for state to continue its economical activities. In William Kylimcka's work "Misunderstanding Nationalims", the national idea first arose among the elites to use it for their purposes. For instance, nationalism helped French and Russian nobility in their battle with absolutist monarchs or German intellectuals in their desire for social acceptance. These are other examples of using nationalism as a tool for someone's advantage. As a conclusion, the core of the economy that depends on the unity of society makes living everyone's own culture harder so it is nearly impossible for state to treat each of its citizens equally. The minor differences must be erased to make people forget their origin and feel a part of big picture with education so as to continue the mainstream activities of the whole. The quotation from Tamir fits the situation: "Nations are cultures that provide their members with meaningful ways of life across the full spectrum of human activity- economic, political, educational and religious)."
As a result, in the lights of what is mentioned above, the nation is not an ancient term. It is formed and has become meaningful with the process of human history through politics and economics. Race, language and religion are very useful tools to unite people by erasing their difference with education for the same purpose. The states can be seen as "organizational cultures", as Anthony Smith calls, that give direction to people's life socially, economically, religiously and educationally. The conflict between coercive State that tries to continue its existence and the people who have their own moral values, historical habits and traditions will probably be there in the history until State can be based on the democratic principles that everyone could live his or her identity and culture.
