This list of links to online nationalism resources has been compiled by Paul Treanor in association with his article Structures of Nationalism. The links are organized on the basis of the forms of nationalism described in the text: globalism, macro-cultural, nation state nationalism, ethno-nationalism, and localism.

This version last updated 16/7/96

The author maintains a current version of this list which can be viewed at http://web.inter.nl.net/users/Paul.Treanor/plana.html.

General Sources (and some theory)

Studying nationalism....

• A basic literature list of recent works in English, theory and case studies.

• A typical course in Nationalism and Contemporary World Politics by Jack Snyder at Columbia, who does not object to it being described as the 'standard academic approach'. With a comprehensive literature list.

• Research integrating the nationalist world view: The Shamrock and the Crown analyses the Anglo-Irish conflict for the Journal of Transnational Law and Policy by tracing its history in great detail (327 footnotes), and as far as possible, (to AD 84 in footnote 18).

The standard view...

• From the US Army Military Review, The Future of the Nation State presents very much the standard (quasi-official) western view of nationalism. The new Defense Intelligence Agency Estimation also identifies break-up of nation states as a global threat to the USA.

• More standard view on the world situation, in Security Challenges for the 21st Century, along with many similar articles in the NATO Review.

• A list of wars, also in English.

• Another site on (20th century) wars, Histoire Militaire. Part of the War, Peace and Security Guide / Guide de Guerre, Paix et Securite. Also has a clickable map of Conflits Contemporains / Contemporary Conflicts, and an index of military servers / serveurs militaires. (All in the interests of the National Defence / Défense Nationale).

• Themes such as 'failed states', 'anarchy', 'nation building' are listed in the Humanitarian Inervention in Somalia bibliography, with the authors who used them. This is a unique source for nationalism theory stereotypes.

• Popular theory of nationalism at its worst, in Bullets and Borders, from the New Internationalist.

A Symposium on Global Migration and the Future of the Nation State, in the Indiana Global Legal Studies Journal.

The Open University School of Management announces the Death of Nations, in the AD 2000 Millennium Project.

France collapsing under postcolonial terrorism, new tribal dialects, and the growth of identities in Société de Demain, Société de Violence?.

As an example of civilizational theory, though not specifically a civilizational theory on nation states, Civilisation and Decivilisation, by Stephen Menell, the leading British advocate of Norbert Elias's theory.

An application of Elias's civilization theory to nation state formation in Central Europe, by Helmut Kuzmics.

The World Wide Web Virtual Library Migration and Ethnic Relations lists many sites concerned indirectly with nationalism.

The first chapter of Thomas Hylland Eriksen's Ethnicity and Nationalism: Anthroplogical Perspectives reviews anthropological notions of ethnicity. See the author's Thematic Index for other papers on identity, nation and modernity.

National culture is too dangerous to leave to politicians - therefore leave it to anthropologists? Frans Hüsken's (summarized) defence of anthropology from the suspicion of collusion with nationalism (click on number 14).

The World-Systems Archive is the primary on-line source for world-system theories, with books, reviews, and papers. The site content emphasizes how much overlap there is between normative and descriptive globalism. Forward into the Past: World-Systems before 1500, a pre-print from Sociological Forum by Thomas Hall and Christopher Chase-Dunn reviews the current preoccupation of world-systems theory with pre-modern systems.

The Humanities Net review site includes reviews of recent works on nationalism.

Globalism

The Center for Utopian Studies pages include links to material on normative global visions.

Earth United. Normative globalism in pure form, with links to proposed global 'constitutions'. More constitutions at the Grassroots World Government site.

The United Planetary Federation is located at Chicago IL, and it shows: 'Out of respect for diversity, comes recognition of freedoms and individual rights: in the common interest of a Lasting World Peace through a Federal Democratic Republic'. The links include the Rainbow over the UN project: globalist art.

Towards a World Social Contract, by Kenneth Boulding. A short essay with a world view that is shared by many in the social sciences. War is claimed to be the characteristic of a world of nations, referred to as a world of multiple states. Therefore, according to Boulding, an evolution towards global government is historical development, and also morally desirable. Compare Earth as a Space Ship, a very early (1965) use of the metaphor.

World Citizen Web, the successors of Gary Davis, the man who issued Global Passports.

Community Building as a Metaphor for a Worldwide Paradigm Shift, including Major World Mind Change as a Paradigm Shift in Our Time. New Age global-mind cosmopolitanism: belief in some form of global spiritual entity is not new, and continues to inspire popular cosmopolitanism. Recent versions of this belief are based on technology: see Emergence of Global Brains in Cyber Space.

Turning Point for All Nations. A Statement of the Baha'i International Community on the Occasion of the 50th Anniversary of the United Nations. Standard recent normative cosmopolitanism: transformation of the UN, in the direction of a World Government, but not too fast.

Globalization Brings a Need for Global Ethics. Globalist ethical pan-syncretism, reported by Flora Lewis. 'A small group met in Vienna last weekend to consider how it might be possible to work out a global ethic ... convoked by German ex-Chancellor Helmut Schmidt ... there were representatives of all the major religions'.

The compiler's paper World-Nation: Normative Globalism as Pan-Nationalism covers some recent academic globalism.

An alternative world order: Nationalism and the Islamic State. 'In Islam the Sovereignty Belongs to Allah ... We Must Give Up the Idea of Nationalism'.

Macro-Cultures and Meso-Cultures

The clash of civilizations (or civilisations)...

• Following Samuel Huntington's model of a European Civilisation, political commentators can seriously consider if Greece is outside Europe, by using the Cyrillic alphabet. A commentary for the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung.

• Towards a New Clash of Civilizations. Comment on Huntington by Pedro Brieger, for the MacBride Round Table.

• The plight of Islam in Europe. For John Horvath the 'clash of civilizations' concept is imperialist - but also in itself proof of the decline of the West, following Toynbee's scheme.

BOZKURTLAR. Classic pan-nationalist symbolism, graphically presented on the Net: 'The gray wolf is the ancient and noble animal representing the nation of Turks stretching from the Northern Pacific Ocean, west through Siberia, to Eastern Europe and the Mediterranean Sea'.

More links at the comprehensive Turkic Republics and Communities site, including the Turkish World Flag Hall.

Exploring Ancient World Cultures, a good example of civilizational historiography, covering eight cultures. Compare The Worlds Religions and Their Scriptures, dividing the world into 13 religious traditions (plus new religions).

The main example of cultural diaspora nationalism is afrocentrism, see the sites listed at the African American Web Connection, especially the resource list. Links to a classic example of the invention of tradition (in 1966), see the Kwanzaa Information Center. The Kwanzaa holiday is an African-American / afro-centric Christmas.

An Islamic Site at the University of Buffalo emphasizing the unity of the Islamic world across its languages. Many more Islamic sites can be accessed through Al-Wasl, Your Link to the Islamic CyberWorld, or IslamiCity in Cyberspace (with a virtual Mosque and on-line Iman).

Pan-Turkism versus pan-Islam, from the site quoted above: "The Crescent Moon and Star are ancient Turkish celestial symbols of power originating from the Turkish, ancestoral lands of Siberia and Central Asia."

The Morality of Survival. White supremacist racial civilization theory: sociobiology, Spengler, and the Germanic values of European civilisation. This site is explicitly racist: it should at least remind people of the intellectual background of 'clash-of-cultures' theories.

Pan-Europa Union. Probably the most explicit pan-European organisation, but also a vehicle for Hapsburg nostalgia. The goals are in the language of South German christian democracy: 'PANEUROPA ist freiheitlich, christlich, sozial und europäisch. ... Das Christentum ist die Seele Europas.'

Nation States, Classic Nationalism, Europe of Nations

The International Affairs WWW Virtual Library links to many sites, but typically does not include a specific section on nations or nationalism. The political/social sciences lists below also include relevant material.

A list of International Organisations, the de facto organization of the international world order. From the International Relations and Security Network, includes links to other lists.

Nation to Nation Diplomacy: Klaus Kinkel's latest visits. The archive with Kinkel meeting his Algerian, Beninese, Croatian, Brazilian, Bulgarian, Chilean, Chinese, Finnish, Israeli, Yemeni, Canadian, Maltese, Macedonian, Mozambiquan, New Zealand, Dutch, Romanian, Slovenian, Syrian, Hungarian, (former) Zairean and Cypriot colleagues has been removed from this site: fear of cult of personality?

The Auswärtiges Amt co-finances Inter Nationes, a good example of a national propaganda institute, promoting Germany to other nations.

Europe of the Nations...

• Eurotopia. At first this looks like a pan-European movement. In fact it is a European lobby of 'civil society' groups like the Helsinki Citizens Assembly. Their vision of Europe is based on transnational co-operation, between citizens of national states - which continue to exist. (The modern concept of citizenship itself implies a nation state).

• A Swiss nationalist condemnation of Eurotopia. Despite the clear position that Switzerland would continue to exist, this reaction sees the Eurotopia project as a threat. It also takes a classic anti-utopian position.

• A typical 'civil society' view of Europe sees Europe as 'un espace public' inspired by Arendt and Habermas. No specifics on constitution, state or territory, except the rejection of a European state: in effect a continued Europe of the nation states.

• Europa-Union. Also a misleading name. The goals explicitly support a confederal Europe of nations: 'Die Staaten sollten sich zu einem europäischen Bundesstaat zusammenschliessen...'. The youth movement is affiliated to the JEF, which I categorize below as regionalist-federalist.

Nation and identity...

• A Bosnian National Site with historical and cultural documentation. See the resource list. Via Frank Tiggelaar's large Bosnian site you can link to an audio file of the Bosnian anthem. He disputes the label nationalist, and suggests comparison with these:
  • BosNet
  • HRnet (Croatian, also with the National Anthem).

  Another Bosnian site, this time an emigre lobby: Bosnian Congress USA. All such sites disprove the idea that Internet necessarily contributes to erosion of national emotion.

• The special case of Israel and Jewish identity:
  • Can the Jews retain a collective identity? by Yosef Gorny.
  • The emergence of a native Hebrew culture in Palestine 1882-1948 by Itamar Even-Zohar.

• National feeling can be built on diversity: see footnote 45 of Una Sekerez's paper on Nation and State building in Bosnia and Hercegovina. For another view of the Bosnian identity, see the commentary by Ivan Glaser and Ernst Koehler, apparently a call to religious authenticity.

• A Polish Site, this time with Polish Constitutions as well as Polish Anthems.

• The Ukrainian Information Page, emigre nationalism (from Canada) on the Internet: 'the Ukrainian embroidery pattern was created by my late Godmother Mrs. N. Protas'. The Kyiv Freenet site also links to the classically nationalist Supreme Rada of the Ukraine site: 'The magical voices of Ukrainian singers, ballet artists, the works of our painters and sculptors are renown throughout the world'.

• La Cause Arménienne / The Aremnian Cause: bilingual Armenian site in Canada. The Armenian National Committee of Canada was founded in 1902, before the Armenian Genocide, which dominates Armenian identity today. All the articles in the latest issue online are about the genocide.

• Amended identity at Aras an Uachtaráin, formerly the Viceregal Lodge in Dublin. A nominally bilingual site: 'Fáilte ón Uachtarán Mhic Róibín' in the constitutional 'First National Language', duplicated as 'Greetings from President Robinson'.

Despite the emergence of these national sites, some people insist Internet undermines nation states: see this poststructuralist analysis Postmodern Virtualities.

Two papers by Itamar Even-Zohar: Culture Planning and the Market: Making and Maintaining Socio-Semiotic Entities and The Role of Literature in the Making of the Nations of Europe: A Socio-Semiotic Explanation. (This paper has an interesting quote from Pasolini in 1975 accusing the centralizing Italian state of cultural genocide: compare the accusation below against the EU). The bibliography from Poetics Today includes unfamiliar material on semiotics approaches to culture.

Yet less global culture: Naviguez sur L'inforoute Francophone avec Multi F Contact. (Look at the META tag for keywords of this site). Includes a link to the Association Dèfense de la Langue Française, an example of defensive linguistic nationalism.

Umut Foundation activities combine nation-building, 'civil society', and inter-nation conflict resolution - in the face of pan-Turkist and pan-Islamic influence: 'Turkish youth, guided by Atatürks principles, who ... aim to realize and maintain peace at the national and international level'.

National Culture: A Contradiction in Terms. A classic defence of existing nation states by the assertion that culture is now transnational anyway. Leans on Pierre Trudeau's equally classic defence of Canada.

Nation and separatism....

• A defence of Belgium against separatism, by Lode Wils. Belgian break-up would be 'Hitlers posthumus triumph', as in Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia.

• No large states are free of separatist movements: see the Declaration and Proclamation of the Independence and Reclamation of the Republic of Texas, and all its other official documents. Texas was once an independent state, so this is not as ridiculous as it seems. But, for the moment, the Republic of Texas Magazine has to be paid in American dollars.

• Emerging Southern Nationalism, an anonymous text from the Confederate Undergound. See Secession: It's not just a Southern Thing at the Southern Traditionalist site: 'Today, school children are taught that the secession issue was decided in 1865 at Appomatox, Virginia, but was it...?'

• The usual response of minorities to nation states is not separatism but emancipation (see the main text). A classic example: US Muslims complaint to Congress about airport security checks - they target those with Islamic beards. From the current events section at the University of Texas Muslim Students Association. Students from minority groups typically include emancipation activists, integrationalists, and separatists.

Nation and Europe...

• A paper by Heinz Siedentopf on 'Europa der Verwaltungen?', the daily reality of the European Union: implementation of guidelines by existing nation states.

• Europa-Magazin, 'EU-kritisch, ökologisch, sozial'. Although Switzerland is not an EU member, and constitutionally neutral, there is a Eurosceptic movement well represented by this online magazine. See:
  • Umweltkiller EU
  • Europa Neue Weltordnung: 'Die EU Union verfolgt zielstrebig den Weg zur Militärunion'.
  • EU Verkehrspolitik gegen Mensch und Natur
  • Europäischer Bundesstaat oder ein Europa der Demokratien, a classic nationalist position on democracy: since there is no European Volk / demos, democracy in the EU is impossible and wrong.

• A defence of constitutional nationalism in Europe, from the SPO, the Austrian Social-Democratic Party. Typically, the author identifies a single Europe with Nazism.

• The Campaign for an Independent Britain, Scottish Branch combines Celtic imagery, British sovereignty, and fear of Maastricht. Anti-Euroflag postcards are available in packs of 50.

• An implicit defence of the nation state in Europe by Joseph Weiler. It opposes civil adherence to a Union, to an alleged future European Demos.

Thomas Hylland Eriksen's A non-ethnic state for Africa takes Mauritius as an example. A rejection of ethnic essentialism, but still favouring a nation state.

Ethno-Nationalism, Ethno-Regionalism

An ethno-cultural world...

• NativeWeb. Sites like this emphasize the ideological unity of nationalism, in this case ethno-cultural nationalism. Native peoples across the world make similar claims, and co-operate with each other.

• The Fourth World Documentation Project has a similar content. The term Fourth World is used here for ethnic groups not forming a state.

• Cultural Survival is one of the oldest support groups for ethno-national movements.

• The Associazione per i Popoli Minacciati is an Italian equivalent of Cultural Survival.

• Nationalist, Liberation and Ethnic Conflict Resources, a short list. From the Department of International Politics, University of Wales, Aberystwyth: "This site will also be available through the medium of Welsh at some point in the near future".

• A paper by Dimostenis Yagcioglu, Nation-States vis-a-vis Ethnocultural Minorities: Oppression and Assimiliation, presents the ethnoculturalist view of the nation state as a (hostile) homogenising force. See also the author's Conflict Resolution Page.

A 'World of the Cultures' is the effective vision of Our Creative Diversity: Report of the World Commission on Culture and Development. The report is pluralistic ('multiculturalist'), but responses at a conference were more syncretic ('transcultural'), see the Power of Culture conference site.

The Centre Internacional Escarre per a les Minories Etniques i Nacionals is typical of an ethnonational approach to research - the documentation of nations as a research goal.

Researching Indigenous Peoples Rights under International Law. Literature list and legal sources. More or less explicit ethno-nationalist approach: 'In Europe, the following may be considered as indigenous populations: the Celtic peoples of the British Isles, Brittany in France and Galicia in Spain; the Basque peoples...'

Canadian Fur Trappers Accuse EU of Cultural Genocide. The logic of ethnonationalism: 'Aboriginal Canadian fur trappers accused the European Union on Tuesday of "cultural genocide" by an imminent ban on imported fur from animals caught in traditional leg-hold traps'.

The Turkish Crime of our Century. Blood drips from the Turkish flag at this site, presenting Turkey as the oppressor of Greeks, Kurds and Armenians.

Ethno-nationalist and regionalist secession and autonomy, in Europe especially...

• Homelands: Secession, Independence and Nationalist Movements: a large list, with a bias toward right-wing groups ignored by other sites, including the 'Scottish Phalange'. (It is unclear if some of these groups are anything more than a website).

• The comprehensive CIEMEN Ethnic World links for Europe include ethno-nationalist sites. The vision represented here is that of Europe of the Peoples, although the CIEMEN online publication is called Europa de les Nacions.

• Nasce la Padania!: not exactly a declaration of independence. The Lega Nord invites you to become a founder of Padania, and buy the appropriate Commemmorative Medals. The medals, however, have to be paid in Italian Lire. View the passport of the Repubblica Federale Padania: it is marked with the emblem of 'Europa dei Popoli'.

• And yet again the Bandiera de l'Occitania has to be paid for in Italian Lire, along with publications of Ousitanio Vivo, Jornal Occitan. This is Occitan regionalism in Italy, not France where it is better known. See the Radio Occitania site: 'Occitania es constituida per la part la mai granda del sud de França. Ten sa propria cultura e sa propria lenga...'. Yet there is also an Occitan-Catalan space.

• The Lega Nord links include Sinn Féin, Plaid Cymru and the SNP, the CD and ER in Catalunya, and the Parti Quèbècois.

• DixieNet: 'Inspired by independence movements like the Scottish National Party (Scotland, UK), the Parti Quebecois (Quebec, Canada) and the Lega Nord, (Northern League: Padania, Italy), The Southern League (SL) was formed in June of 1994 in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, CSA'. Includes The Global Rise of Ethnic Nationalism. Postmodern fragmentation as friend of Dixie: 'Day by day kindred national feelings grow around the globe, reflecting a secular trend to decentralization and fragmentation that will continue for centuries'.

• Irish Republican History and Information: nationalist movements in Ireland combine 'republican' secular traditions with ethno-nationalist identity. The 'republicanism' at this site is, strictly speaking, an irredentist movement: there is already a Republic of Ireland.

• The Proclamation of the Irish Republic in 1916, 'under the protection of the Most High God'.

• Irish Civil War memory after 75 years: Michael Collins Beer Glasses.

Committee of the Regions of the European Union. Official regionalism, entirely integrated in EU policy. See the Final Declaration of the Amsterdam Summit of the Regions and Cities. (A rare example of an EU text online in more than two official EU languages, nine this time).

Official local authority regionalism from a regional consortium of the Stadt Graz: 'Der Wirtschaftsraum Graz versteht sich im zukünftigen Europa der Regionen als eine Einheit aus Stadt und umgebender Region'.

The Universal Declaration on Linguistic Rights is an example of a universalist declaration concerning many groups, ethno-linguistic minorities. (Such declarations contradict the view of nationalism as particularistic).

The Rise (and Falling) of the Nation State, from the New Internationalist: a typical expression of the belief that nation states will be eroded by global co-operation of smaller (ethnic) entities.

Jeunesse Européenne Fédéraliste. Best classified, ultimately, as regionalist-federalists. The manifesto advocates decentralisation in existing nation states, not just in Europe: "A World Federation is the ultimate goal of all federalists."

Nationalism and Plurinationalism in a Multi-Ethnic State: Indigenous Organizations in Ecuador.

Localism

Although urban planning sites include texts favouring small-scale communities, few explicit ideological texts in favour of localism seem available on-line.

New Age global community-localism, at Design Earth Synergy. View the 'CONCEPTUAL DIAGRAMS illustrating a world-wide network of community co-visionary strategic action/planning centers'.

Local government as skills manager in a post-industrial world: an Australian Labour case for active (local) government. At the Australian Local Government Association site, which has some more relevant links.

A plea for urban local government in Hometowns Matter, from the New Democrat.

A less definitive text from the Open University AD2000 Millennium Project, the same one which proclaimed the death of nations.

Copyright Sociological Research Online, 1997