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Nationalism NCERT Textbook With Solutions Book PDF Free Download
Chapter 7: Nationalism
If we were to take a quick poll of what people commonly understand by the term nationalism we are likely to get responses that talk about patriotism, national flags, sacrificing for the country, and the like.
The Republic Day parade in Delhi is a striking symbol of Indian nationalism and it brings out the sense of power, strength, as well as diversity that many associates with the Indian nation.
But if we try to go deeper we will find that it is difficult to arrive at a precise and widely accepted definition of the term nationalism.
This need not mean that we should abandon the effort. Nationalism needs to be studied because it plays such an important role in world affairs.
During the last two centuries or more, nationalism has emerged as one of the most compelling political creeds which have helped to shape history.
It has inspired intense loyalties as well as deep hatreds. It has united people as well as divided them, helped to liberate them from the oppressive rule as well as been the cause of conflict and
bitterness and wars.
It has been a factor in the break up of empires and states. Nationalist struggles have contributed to the drawing and redrawing of the boundaries of states and empires.
At present, a large part of the world is divided into different nation-states although the process of re-ordering of state boundaries has not come to an end and separatist struggles within existing states are common.
Nationalism has passed through many phases. For instance, in nineteenth-century Europe, it led to the unification of a number of small kingdoms into larger nation-states.
The present-day German and Italian states were formed through such a process of unification
and consolidation. A large number of new states were also founded in Latin America.
Along with the consolidation of state boundaries, local dialects and local loyalties were also gradually consolidated into state loyalties and common languages.
The people of the new states acquired a new political identity that was based on membership of the nation-state. We have seen a similar process of consolidation taking place in our own country in the last century or more.
But nationalism also accompanied and contributed to the break up of large empires such as the Austro-Hungarian and Russian empires in the early twentieth century in Europe as well as the
the break-up of the British, French, Dutch, and Portuguese empires in Asia and Africa.
The struggle for freedom from colonial rule by India and other former colonies was nationalist struggles, inspired by the desire to establish nation-states that would be independent of
foreign control.
The process of redrawing state boundaries continues to take place.
Since 1960, even apparently stable nation-states have been confronted by nationalist demands put forward by groups or regions and these may include demands for separate statehood.
Today, in many parts of the world we witness nationalist struggles that threaten to divide existing states.
Such separatist movements have developed among the Quebecois in Canada, the Basques in northern Spain, the Kurds in Turkey and Iraq, and the Tamils in Sri Lanka,
among others.
The language of nationalism is also used by some groups in India. Arab nationalism today may hope to unite Arab countries in a pan-Arab union but separatist movements like the Basques or Kurds struggle to divide existing states.
We may all agree that nationalism is a powerful force in the world even today. But it is more difficult to arrive at an agreement regarding the definition of terms like nation or nationalism. What
is a nation? Why do people form nations and to what do nations aspire?
Why are people ready to sacrifice and even die for their nation? Why, and in what way, are claims to nationhood linked to claims to statehood?
Do nations have a right to statehood or national self-determination? Or can the claims of nationalism be met without conceding separate statehood? In this chapter we will explore some of these issues.
| Author | NCERT |
| Language | English |
| No. of Pages | 14 |
| PDF Size | 1.8 MB |
| Category | Political Science |
| Source/Credits | ncert.nic.in |
NCERT Solutions Class 11 Political Science Chapter 7 Nationalism
Question 1.
How is a nation different from other forms of collective belonging?
Answer:
A nation is not only a collection of people and it differs from other groups found in society:
- A state is different from a family which is based on direct personal interaction of people living together and having knowledge of identity and character of others also.
- A nation is different from clans, tribes and kinship which ties of marriage and descent link members to each other so that even if we do not personally know all the members we can.
- But as a member of a nation, we may never come face to face, most of our fellow nationals nor need we share ties of descent with them.
Still the nation exists, are lived in and valued by its members.
Question 2.
What do you understand by the right to national self-determination? How has this idea resulted in both formation of and challenges to nation-states?
Answer:
The right of self-determination implies that every nation in the world should enjoy a right to determine its destiny in all walks of life without any undue interference from any other state.
Every nation should be given a right to determine his own affairs in the way it likes. The right of self-determination implies that each state exercises the following rights:
- The basic right implies that each state has a right to exist independently without interference from other states and the sovereignty of the state would be respected by all.
- Every state exercises the right to develop its own political, social, and economic spheres as well as its own art, culture, and literature and should have a right to adopt any language as the medium of expression.
- Each state exercises the right to preserve what it considers worth preserving. Each tradition has some historical background and represents the soul of the nation.
To enjoy these rights, we may conclude the following reasons:
- These rights are essential for the coexistence of democracy in action.
- This right promotes national unity among the various states which belong to different races, castes, religion and cultures.
- This right guarantees that minorities should not be absorbed in the majority whereas they should also be given the right to determine their culture and civilisation alongwith majority communities.
- This right provides more national security because the majority and minority both enjoy the right to determine their own affairs in the way they linked.
But, the right of self-determination results in the following challenges:
- It may hinder the smooth functioning of administration in multi-national states like India, USSR, because each section makes efforts to find out one’s own way.
- Sometimes, this right finds it difficult to frame a public opinion for the success of democracy because everyone would develop its own identity only.
- Sometimes, it brings inferior races at par the superior races, which hamper the growth of superior race also.
The right of self-determination resulted:
- Disintegration of states, i.e. Russia, Austria, Hungary.
- Resulted the unification of states like Germany and Italy.
- Resulted the states like Czechoslovakia and Finland.
Hence, it can be concluded that the right of self-determination can also be used for both purpose of national integration and disintegration.
NCERT Class 11 Political Science Textbook Chapter 7 Nationalism With Answer PDF Free Download