Civic Patriotism: The Definition Of Civic Nationalism

1387 Words6 Pages
First, it seems to be a good idea to clarify the term of ‘civic nationalism’. There are multiple definitions made by several academic scholars. An essential definition originates from Michael Ignatieff, the Canadian author, who is the main defender of the increasingly well-known thought of "civic nationalism." He characterizes a civic nation as “a community of equal, rights-bearing inhabitants, joined in nationalist association to a shared arrangement of political practices and values." Civic patriotism, Ignatieff contends, turns "national belonging into a type of rational connection," a decision instead of a heritage that we get from our progenitors. (Yack, 2000) Justin Kwang (2016) states that civic nationalism is a sort of nation-building which is framed by "an aggregate enterprise of individuals established in a gained instead of ascriptive identity". The procured personality depends on basic esteems and patterns of social interaction which are shown through establishments and historical memory. Subsequently, an individual "independent of birth or ethnic sources" can turn into an individual from the group through adjustment of a specific arrangement of political and social interactions that are characterized by basic esteems and a feeling of common identity. (Kwan, 2016) In his scholarly work, Brian Fong (2017) alludes to the term peripheral nationalism, which is characterized as the affirmation of a particular identity by individuals living inside a particular domain