Benedict Anderson's article "Western Nationalism and Eastern Nationalism: Is There a Difference that Matters?” she takes a look at nationalism now and then as well as Western vs. Eastern. There’s this idea according to Anderson that an Asian form of nationalism is still very much so common and it has roots going back more than a century. This idea’s origins come from racist European imperialism, which felt that East is East and West is West, meaning that they were not only very different but they would also never meet or intertwine due to their differences (2001: 31). Some of the oldest nationalism in Asia are in fact older than many of those in Europe and Europe Overseas. In fact several countries in their origins were very similar to other countries in which they have very little in common with each other, such as the Philippines and Cuba, they are both in the Northern Hemisphere but are classified as East and West (2001: 32).
One of the most predominant points mentioned in the article is how often the world changes and how over time the notion of East and West has varied substantially from how people viewed it a century ago to how they view it in modern times. Another important question that we need to ask ourselves is who decides where east and west begin and end, is there a science behind this decision making process or is it arbitrary since it changes so much over time (2001: 32). Can countries within the same time zone be the limitations of East and West, or must they be in the same Hemisphere for this decision to be made, an example of this is Lima and Los Angeles both in the same time zone could they both be regarded as the Far West. Centuries ago migration wasn’t look at as an issue however now there are massive amounts of population migrations taking place within the supposedly fixed boundaries of Europe and Asia allowing people to leave their home countries and settle in others, bringing their values and beliefs along with them (2001: 32).
These migration flows will most likely continue and perhaps even accelerate over the years, since even though some countries have stricter laws and regulations in most countries immigrants make up its demographic profile and they’re essential to the countries development and prosperity. What comes out of these migrations, what new identities are being or will be produced, these questions are hugely complex and large unanswerable questions because these migrations are still so new, in past decades very few people would migrate outside of their own country less so continent (2001: 33). Anderson goes on to discuss the concept of Creole Nationalism, which is the earliest form of nationalism, arose out of the vast expansion of overseas empires, which were often very far away. She goes on to talk about linguistic nationalism, which has its philosophical origins in the theories of Herder and Rousseau, who’s “underlying belief was that each true nation was marked off by its own peculiar language and literary culture, which together expressed that people’s historical genius” (2001: 40). In the end there are multiple forms of nationalism each, which has roots within the others, there seems to be no distinct nationalism because they all have similarities even though they may be predominantly Western or Eastern.
Image Source:
Albert Einstein: http://thefabweb.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/t6gAx-900x506.png
Migration Flow: http://www.leeds.ac.uk/strikingwomen/skin/images/map_large.jpg
References:
Anderson, Benedict. 2001. “Western Nationalism and Eastern Nationalism.” New Left Review 9: 31-42.
