George Orwell wrote an essay entitled “Notes on Nationalism” around the time of WW II. In this brief essay, Orwell defines nationalism along with a description of the traits of nationalists. In this post, a summary of his essay will be provided along with modern examples of some of his key points.

Defining Nationalism

For Orwell, nationalism is an individual’s identification with a single nation or unit. Nation is a country but unit is much harder to define. A unit could be a religion, such as Islam, or an ideology like communism. Simply, a unit can be anything that is not a nation.

Orwell then goes on to describe two types of nationalism which are positive and negative nationalism. A positive nationalist wants to boost the prestige of his country or unit. An example of a positive nationalist would be a patriotic American who believes in “God bless America.”

The examples Orwell includes in his essay of positive nationalism include Zionism, which supports the idea of a Jewish state and is not ashamed to do so. Orwell also shared the example of Celtic Nationalism which believed in the support of the Celtic ethnicities in the United Kingdom. What both of these examples have in common is a focus on supporting a unit of people to achieve goals and objectives.

A negative nationalist is a person who wants to denigrate or lower the prestige of a country or unit. An example of this would be Americans who are ashamed or embarrassed by the past atrocities of the US and want the US to offer reparations, apologies, and to show penitence. These people are also nationalist but have a sense of shame over their country’s behavior that is baffling to a positive nationalist.

The examples of negative nationalism that Orwell shares in his essay include Anti-semitism, Anglophobia, and Trotskyism. Anti-Semitism is racism against people who are Jewish and does not require much additional explanation. Anglophobia is a negative attitude towards the UK. What makes Anglophobia pertinent is that a similar attitude has permeated the US in recent years. Trotskyism was a branch of mainly Russian communists who did not support Stalin’s leadership of the Soviet Union.

What all of these negative nationalists have in common is hatred and or resistance to another country or unit. This leads to the conclusion that whether someone is a positive or negative nationalist depends on who is asking the question. For example, someone who supports Black Lives Matter might see themselves as a patriot continuing the fight for equality which is a tradition in America. However, another person might see BLM in a negative light due to the instability that BLM brings into certain areas. In the end, whether someone is a positive or negative nationalist is based more on marketing than on the actual behavior and beliefs of the individuals involved.

There is one more group of nationalists that do not neatly fall into the two categories already mentioned and this group is called transferred nationalists. A transferred nationalist is a person who holds a contrasting position to the context in which they live. An example that Orwell uses is a communist who lives in a capitalist country, which is a minority position. Another example he shared was political Catholicism which was the promotion of Catholic social teachings through government support. Political Catholicism is a form of transfer nationalism because the use of the state to support religion in this matter is supposedly an unusual position in Orwell’s view.

As mentioned before, whether someone is a positive, negative, or transferred nationalist is a matter of perspective. The main point here is to understand how nationalism can manifest in different ways and different contexts.

Main Characteristics of Nationalism

In addition to categorizing the types of nationalism, Orwell also provides three main characteristics of nationalists which are obsession, instability, and indifference to reality. Obsession is being highly focused on the group/unit that the nationalist is supporting. For example, Zionists are highly focused on Israel and matters related to this country. Black Lives Matter support is highly focused on systemic racism and matters related to the Black community.

Instability relates primarily to transferred nationalists and it is loyalty outside of the system one is in. The previous example was a communist in a capitalist country. A more recent example is natural-born Americans supporting immigration regardless of the context. Perhaps the reason that Orwell labels this instability is that a minority position can often push for change that destabilizes the status quo.

The final trait of nationalists is indifference to reality. Reality is not defined in a traditional manner here but is more focused on morality. Nationalists see the world from their viewpoint to the exclusion of all contradictory evidence. What is good or bad is not based on behavior but rather on who did it. If the US goes and attacks another country it is a fight for freedom. However, if anybody attacks the US it is considered terrorism. For a pro-US nationalist, no information can be given to criticize US aggression or condone attacks on the US because it is not evidence or morals that matters but the group/unit that the nationalist is supporting.

We can extend this to every other example if we want. Immigration is okay for transferred nationalists no matter how much crime, unemployment or drains of social services happen. The opposite is true for US positive nationalists, immigration is a problem no matter how many hard-working, tax-paying immigrants come. The same applies to Black Lives Matter and racism. No matter what the government does systemic racism is still a threat to Blacks. On the other hand, US nationalists are convinced that nothing can be done to appease people who think they are victims of racism.

Conclusion

Orwell’s views on nationalism provide an interesting take from the WW II era. The point was not to criticize his view but rather to explain his position with a few recent examples. Nationalism is a part of the worldview of most individuals in one way or the other. What is truly important is just to be aware of one’s position concerning one’s thoughts relating to nationalism.