Multiculturalism and nationalism: Models of belonging to diverse political community

Abstract

Nationalism and multiculturalism seem to have opposed approaches to cultural diversity. However, recent calls for a “multicultural national identity” suggest the need for more nuances on this relation. This paper responds to these calls, and to some initial doubts, providing an account of political community, nationalism and multiculturalism conducive to fuller theorization of a multicultural form of national identity. To do this, it conceptualizes nationalism, liberalism and multiculturalism in terms of the concept of political belonging. It argues that, understood as modes of belonging, nationalism and multiculturalism are not incompatible, and indeed, the latter is a reconstruction of the symbolic terms of social unity of the former. Specifically, multiculturalism entails a form of national belonging that makes cultural difference a constitutive part of national unity, opening possibilities of diverse political community. Key to understanding this is distinguishing between general and specific valuations of diversity within multiculturalism. The paper further argues that a multicultural national identity is a viable alternative to existing models of national identity, offering both a different set of normative prescriptions and an alternative understanding of existing national identity in liberal‐democratic states.

Introduction: Linguistic justice, migration and the nation‐state

“…This asymmetrical approach is also evident if we examine migrants and their languages in relation to the place they are awarded in the national “political project of belonging” (Yuval‐Davis, 2011). The concept of belonging is central to debates on nationalism (e.g., Chin, 2021; Guibernau, 2013; Knott, 2017), and language has been identified as significant for nation‐building, national identity and belonging (Anderson, 2006; Antonsich, 2010). Theories of linguistic justice must therefore engage with the complex relationship between language and different modes of migrant belonging, shaped by the political aspirations of the nation‐state.…”

“Ethnic paradox of modernity” and the liberal civil nation in the horizon of globalization: “challenge” and “response”

“…However, this is only a "private remark", especially since Huebner himself, in the book cited, substantiates the concept of a nation, in which the rationality of civic loyalty is supported "mythically": the "myth of the nation" can be in agreement with the liberal concept, as Huebner showed. This perspective examines, for example, "liberal nationalism" [35], opposed to "populist nationalism" [36], compares multiculturalism and nationalism as models of belonging to a diverse political community [37].…”

Nationalism is dead, long live nationalism! In pursuit of pluralistic nationalism: A critical overview

“…Modood (2019b: 309), for instance, highlights that ‘multiculturalism is a mode of integration that does not just emphasise the centrality of minority group identities but argues that integration is incomplete without re-making national identity so that all can have a sense of belonging to it’. Therefore, nationalism and multiculturalism, when considered ‘as modes of belonging’, are not incompatible insofar as multiculturalism ‘is a reconstruction of the symbolic terms of social unity’ of nationalism (Chin, 2020: 113).…”

“…Multiculturalists like Parekh and Uberoi value national identities without valuing nationalism. National identity, however, ‘is the constitutive dimension of nationalism that seeks to define a political community through the nationalist imaginary’ (Chin, 2020: 118). In this sense, theorizing national identity might be considered as a way of theorizing nationalism in the form of political belonging.…”