The definition and type of nationalism: the evolution and harms of national totalitarianism from healthy identity to national totalitarianism

A deep discussion on the various manifestations of nationalism, from healthy national identity to extreme nationalism with exclusivity, superiority and expansion, as well as the definition, characteristics, historical roots of national totalitarianism formed in combination with totalitarianism and its far-reaching harm to society and human rights.

8values ​​political test-Political tendency test-Political position test-Definition and types of nationalism

Nationalism is a political concept that emphasizes national identity, national interests and national unity. However, when this idea goes to extremes, it will evolve into extreme nationalism and often combine with totalitarian regimes to form national totalitarianism .

Definition and Types of Nationalism

1. Normal expression of nationalism

Healthy nationalism is usually reflected in the level of maintaining national culture and striving for national equality . It emphasizes a sense of group belonging, a common history and culture, and contributes to the unity and development of the nation.

2. Extreme nationalism (Ethnonationalism/Chauvinism)

Unlike healthy nationalism, extreme nationalism has strong exclusivity, superiority and expansion , and is the ideological foundation of national totalitarianism. Its core features include:

  • National superiority theory : claims that a specific nation (usually the nation to which the ruling group belongs) has "natural superiority" in culture, blood, history, or "civilization level", and defines other nations as "outsiders", "lower groups" or even "threats".
  • National exclusivity : regard "national purity" as the key to the existence of the country, and excludes all "non-national" cultural, language, religion or identity identities. In extreme cases, laws and policies may even restrict the education, employment, and residence rights of different ethnic groups, and even trigger "ethnic cleansing".
  • Absolute national goals : put "national interests" (such as territorial expansion, national "unification", and elimination of "national traitors") above everything else, including human rights, the rule of law, international rules, and even achieve goals through war and violence.
  • Revengeism and victimization narrative : It often preaches that the nation has suffered injustice and humiliation in history and needs to "revenge" or "revival" through a powerful regime.
  • Instrumentalization of history and culture : use national history and cultural symbols (such as language and religion) to strengthen collective memory and shape "common enemies" to gather internal identity. For example, Japanese militarism strengthened Emperor worship through Shintoism and incited external expansion.
  • Treat ethnic minorities as "social blank" : For national totalitarians armed by totalitarianism, ethnic minorities are essentially "social blank" and an open field where social experiments can be conducted at will. Their long history and culture, contributions to the country and their actual existence as independent nations are completely ignored and ignored.
  • Conflict with technological innovation : There is an irreconcilable conflict between the closed nature of national chauvinism and the free flow of information required for technological innovation.

The combination and expression of national totalitarianism

National totalitarianism (Ethnonationalist Totalitarianism) is a combination of two dangerous political logics: extreme nationalism and totalitarianism. It takes extreme nationalism as its core ideology and promotes this ideological political system through totalitarian means. Under this model, strengthening the exclusiveness of national identity is its core, aiming to build a comprehensive control over society, economy, culture and even personal life, ultimately realizing a monopoly of specific ethnic groups over state power, and suppressing all heterogeneous forces.

Typical features of such combinations include:

  • National rejuvenation or national purity becomes the highest goal : all actions of the regime, whether it is economic policies, culture and education, or diplomacy and military, serve extreme nationalist goals such as "making the nation great again", "purifying the national bloodline" or "seizing living space".
  • The definition of "nation" is monopolized and instrumentalized by the regime : the regime decides who belongs to the "people", who is the "enemies of the state", and the enemies are usually internal "traitors", external "conspirators", and demonized minorities.
  • Individuals are completely obedient to the national collective : the individual's rights, freedoms and value of life are completely denied, and the only meaning of existence is to sacrifice for the nation's grand goals.
  • Create fanaticism through continuous mobilization and publicity : using parades, rallies, and media publicity to continuously strengthen the sense of national superiority and fear of external threats to maintain people's support and obedience.
  • Irresible conflict : There is an irreconcilable conflict between the needs of ethnic minorities and the demands of national totalitarians.

A deep understanding of national totalitarianism: definitions and characteristics

National totalitarianism is a political system that takes extreme nationalism as its core ideology and promotes this ideology through totalitarian means. It combines elements of totalitarianism (total control over society) with ethnic or racial exclusivity, advocating the identity of a particular ethnic group as the core of political legitimacy.

1. National purity and overall control

National totalitarian states will use their totalitarian mechanisms to promote and enforce the so-called racial or cultural purity of the dominant nation . This means that the state has rigorously censored information and used powerful propaganda machines to instill official ideology into the people. For example, Nazi Germany's propaganda machine reinforced the Aryan national myth. The state will monopolize media, education and cultural institutions, force the implementation of the "national superiority theory" and "national crisis theory", suppress any doubts or dissent, and even bind the people into a community of "national-government" through "brainwashing propaganda".

2. Eliminate diversity and objections

National totalitarianism seeks to eliminate diversity and dissent in society . It will suppress all heterogeneous forces and fully incorporate all non-political life (including private spheres such as family, work, socialism, etc.) into the control of the state machine. Any "disloyal" behavior, such as the use of a foreign language or the preservation of a foreign cultural custom, may be considered "betrayal of the nation" and punished.

3. Logic and Reign of Terror

Hannah Arendt believes that the essence of totalitarianism is a combination of terror and logic . Terror is no longer just a means of suppressing dissent, but as a universal mode of domination, permeating every corner of society. This horror is "rational", which replaces the real law in a constitutional government, aims to turn "the law of movement of history or nature" into reality. The state will establish a strict surveillance system such as a secret police system, suppress dissent with violence and intimidation, and punish those who challenge their power. In this way, totalitarianism aims to destroy the individual’s conscience and transform citizens into the embodiment of historical or natural laws of movement.

4. Propaganda and Social Control

The National Propaganda Conference promotes national superiority and ensures social obedience and loyalty by strengthening the exclusivity of national identity. For example, Nazi Germany passed the Nuremberg Act to deprive Jews of civil rights and systematically eliminate "non-Aryan" culture. The state will also monopolize the education system, use its propaganda machine to control public opinion and shape citizens' beliefs.

5. Destroy individuality

The goal of national totalitarianism is to destroy human individuality and transform citizens into identical, interchangeable samples or homogeneous groups of “human species” to serve national ideals. This means eliminating free choice and personality, politicizing the private sphere, including the family, and denying universal concepts of human rights.

6. "National Identity" becomes the only legal tag

National laws or policies regard "national ownership" as the core standard for dividing civil rights. For example, only members of the nation can hold public office, join the army, and participate in political decision-making; members of the nation may not be able to obtain full citizenship even if they are born in their own country.

7. The dual narrative of "external threat" and "internal enemy"

The regime has long exaggerated that "the nation faces external siege" and "there are traitors inside", gathering people's support for the regime by creating a "sense of crisis", and at the same time finding excuses for suppressing dissent.

8. "Monopoly reconstruction" of culture and history

The regime will forcibly modify historical narratives, shape its nation into "the only creator of history", downplay or discredit the historical contributions of foreign nations; at the same time, forcibly promote the language, religion, and customs of its nation, and ban the cultural expression of foreign nations.

9. The "nationalization" of violent machines

The core positions of the military, police and judicial system are monopolized by members of the nation. The primary task of the violent machine is to "maintain the stability of the national regime" rather than protecting the rights of all citizens.

10. Enclosed and external isolation

The regime tends to close national borders and restrict foreign exchanges, prevent the infiltration of external "heterogeneous ideas" and avoid the international community's attention to national oppression within it.

Historically, Nazi Germany is a typical example of totalitarianism with a strong national component, and its extreme emphasis on racial superiority and totalitarian control over society reflect these characteristics.

The Philosophical and Historical Roots of National Totalitarianism

The rise of national totalitarianism is not a single reason, and its theoretical and historical roots are complex.

1. Romanticism

Romanticism emphasizes anti-rationality, emotion and individual will , and advocates achieving social change through "shaping". Germany's "Storm Progress" movement promoted the awakening of national consciousness, but its irrational tendencies laid hidden dangers for totalitarianism. This forced combination of extreme individualism that denies enlightenment rationality and totalitarianism to collective will have a destructive impact on the traditional order.

2. Hegel's Nationalism

Hegel believes that the country is the highest manifestation of the "world spirit" and individuals must unconditionally obey national interests . He advocated that state power was unlimited and that personal values ​​were dependent on the state's existence. This theory provided a philosophical basis for Nazi Germany's "state is above everything else", alienated nationalism into an absolute worship of state power, and paved the way for totalitarian rule.

3. Fichte's National Mission Theory

In his "Collection of Speeches to German Nationalities", Fichte declared that the Germanic nation was the "savior of civilization" and derogated other nations to "corruption". This is a concept that the nation has a "unique mission" . This "national voter theory" directly gave birth to the fascist logic of ethnic cleansing and became an ideological tool for Nazi Germany to launch a war of aggression.

4. Scientism and Social Physics

Applying natural scientific methods to social fields, such as Kong De's "social physics" attempts to explain historical development with physical laws, believing that society can achieve absolute order through "scientific management". Scientism provides the cloak of "objectivity" for totalitarianism, and its abstract principles (such as "historical necessity") are used to rationalize large-scale social transformation, and even violent purges.

5. Stalinist national policy

Stalinism implements political pressure and national assimilation in the name of "proletarian internationalism". The Soviet Union eliminated ethnic differences through forced migration and language unification, and transformed ethnic issues into tools of class struggle. This model covers national oppression with "revolutionary ideals", achieves comprehensive rule over multi-ethnic countries through ideological control, and forms a "left-wing totalitarian" model.

6. The conflict between the social crisis after World War I and the construction of nation-states

The chaos after World War I provided the conditions for the establishment of totalitarianism in Russia, Italy and Germany. After the rise of nationalism in Europe in the 19th century, the contradiction between national self-determination and territorial expansion provided the soil for totalitarian rule. Economic collapse and political disorder have spawned extreme nationalism, such as Nazi Germany instrumentalized nationalism through the theory of racial superiority.

7. Colonialism and Anti-colonial Movement

Some post-colonial countries established exclusive regimes in the name of national unity, such as the Myanmar military government suppressed minorities on the grounds of "protecting Buddhist nations."

8. Plato and the Origins of Totalitarianism

In his book "Open Society and Its Enemy", Austrian-British philosopher Carl Popper traces the roots of totalitarianism to Plato's "The Ideal Country" . Popper believes that the ideal city-state described by Plato is totalitarian and regards it as one of the roots of totalitarianism in the 20th century. While this view is controversial and questioned by some historians and philosophers, it provides a unique perspective to trace the origins of totalitarian thought.

National totalitarianism and gender regime

National totalitarian states have profound effects on gender power relations through their core logic— the reproduction of racialized social forces . These countries aim to maintain and enforce social reproduction of dominant nations (including bioreproduction, unpaid production of goods and services in families and communities, cultural and ideological reproduction).

1. Weaponization of social reproduction

National totalitarian countries strategically support and weaken social forces with the weaponization of social reproduction as their core strategy. As these countries aim to undermine the social reproduction of subordinate ethnic groups, this manifests itself as intense violence against women. Control of social reproduction is achieved through land, which is the key to the expansion of territory by national totalitarian countries.

2. Deliberate destruction of social reproduction of subordinate groups

National totalitarian states limit and hinder the social reproduction of subordinate groups and limit their ability to obtain land, produce and reproduction means. For example, the Myanmar military has long implemented a policy that deliberately restricts the ability of subordinate ethnic groups to perform social reproduction and cuts off the resources of rebel forces (such as food, recruits, funds and intelligence). Similar situations exist in Sri Lanka, with the national military continuing to occupy the north and east, resulting in the deprivation of the local Tamil and Muslim population.

  • Displacement and scarcity of resources : Residents in conflict areas were forced to be displaced due to military operations, lost property and animals, unable to return to farms to make ends meet, and were forced to fall into survival mode. This has resulted in limited access to land, food and job opportunities, increased debt and decreased social status.
  • Infrastructure Violence : Sri Lanka's research shows that by detaining or destroying daily resources and infrastructure supporting social reproduction (such as water supply), it can also be "secretly attacked" on social reproduction of subordinate groups.

3. Support for the social reproduction of the dominant group

On the contrary, national totalitarian countries will actively support the social reproduction of dominant ethnic groups. For example, the Sri Lankan government actively supports the social reproduction of the state's military families and encourages military families to have more children by providing pensions and land use rights.

4. Gender ideology and control of female bodies

Nationalism relies on the reproduction and institutionalization of gender differences , especially for women who are regarded as "national biological reproductionists." Control over women and their sexual behavior is “the core of national and social forces.” Therefore, national totalitarian countries will put huge pressure on women's sexual reproduction, requiring women to have "right children" and be born from "right men". For example, the "Buddhist Reformation" that the Myanmar military acquiesced to promote led to the rise of radical ethnic and religious groups and successfully lobbying for the passage of the "Race and Religious Protection Act", which stipulated control of sexual behavior, physical and reproduction by national totalitarian countries in Buddhists and Burmese women.

5. Violent connection between war front and family front

Gender violence is at the heart of the form and function of a national totalitarian state. National totalitarian states acquiescent and even dependence on male supremacy and violence within their families. This violence helps maintain individual male control over female production and reproductive labor, thus supporting the state’s goals.

  • Violence after soldiers return home : Among the dominant ethnic groups, domestic violence caused by soldiers returning home is regarded as a "normal phenomenon". Women are expected to maintain a strong image, representing a strong country, even if they suffer violence in their families.
  • Violence in subordinated groups : In subordinated groups, unresolved trauma after the war leads to violence within families and communities, further weakening the self-sustaining and reproductive capacity of these groups.

Hazards and Challenges: The Impact of National Totalitarianism

The impact of national totalitarianism on the state and human civilization is multi-level and devastating.

1. Human rights disaster

National totalitarianism leads to discrimination, persecution and even massacre of foreign nations, directly trampling on the basic human rights of "created equality" . This can create large-scale humanitarian crises such as refugee waves, genocide and ethnic cleansing. Ethnic cleansing in history is often accompanied by murder, forced expulsion, arbitrary detention, and destruction of cultural and religious sites.

2. Social division and long-term hatred

By strengthening national confrontation, national totalitarianism tear society apart into a confrontation between "their own nation" and "different nations", destroying the trust foundation of multi-ethnic society . Even if the regime changes, national hatred may continue for a long time, such as the ethnic conflicts in the Balkans have not been completely resolved so far.

3. Regression in civilization and suppression of innovation

The suppression of cultural diversity and the prohibition of alien culture and freedom of thought have led to the singularization and rigidity of civilization. There is an irreconcilable conflict between the closed nature of national totalitarianism and the prerequisites such as the free flow of information required for technological innovation, which will ultimately hinder technological progress and lead to the country's backwardness.

4. Regional and global turmoil

In order to achieve the expansion or confrontation of the "national goals", national totalitarianism can easily trigger border conflicts, regional wars, and even spread the crisis to the world and disrupt the international order.

5. Economic distortion and talent loss

National totalitarian regimes usually concentrate resources on military or ethnic "purification" projects, resulting in the decline of people's livelihood. Persecution of minorities or dissidents (such as the Soviet Union's Great Purge) will undermine social vitality and talent base and hinder social and economic development for a long time.

6. International Isolation

Xenophobia and human rights violations will trigger sanctions from the international community, causing the country to be isolated internationally and the economy to stagnate.

7. Irreconciliation of conflicts

There is an irreconcilable conflict between the needs of ethnic minorities and those of national totalitarians. National totalitarians regard ethnic minorities as "social blank", conduct social experiments at will, completely ignoring their historical culture and independent existence.

Historically, Nazi Germany, Serbian radical nationalist regimes and Japanese militarism are typical cases of national totalitarianism. They all created huge humanitarian disasters and world turmoil through totalitarian means in the name of extreme nationalism.

Differences from related ideology

In order to understand the nature of national totalitarianism more accurately, it is necessary to distinguish it from confusing ideology.

1. National totalitarianism and extreme nationalism

  • National totalitarianism : integrates extreme nationalism and totalitarianism, pursues "national exclusivity + comprehensive control" , and has the dual extremes of exclusivity and control.
  • Extreme nationalism : Only emphasizing national superiority and exclusivity may not necessarily have totalitarian means of control . For example, some far-right parties may only stay at the ideological level and do not hold state power.

2. National totalitarianism and traditional fascist totalitarianism

  • National totalitarianism : Taking "specific nations" as the core, the state is regarded as "the tool of the nation." Nazi Germany, for example, centered on racism.
  • Traditional fascist totalitarianism : with "state/political party" as the core. For example, Italian fascism emphasizes "national supremacy."

3. National totalitarianism and authoritarianism

  • National totalitarianism : seeks comprehensive control over the whole society and individual thoughts , and has a strong, infiltrating ideology. It completely controls all aspects of public and private life, compressing private spaces into almost non-existent states.
  • Authoritarianism : mainly focuses on the monopoly of political power , but usually reserves a certain space for social life (such as culture and economy) and does not emphasize national exclusivity. The dictator in the authoritarian regime takes power for power, while totalitarianism controls every aspect of life with its official ideology.

National totalitarianism is a dangerous model that alienates "national" into a tool of domination and suppresses all heterogeneous forces with totalitarian means. Identifying its characteristics and being alert to its rise is an important prerequisite for maintaining the stability of modern society and the common values ​​of mankind.

Original articles, the source (8values.cc) must be indicated for reprinting and the original link to this article:

https://8values.cc/blog/definition-and-types-of-nationalism

Table of contents

13 Mins