Can Nationalists be Pluralists?

• In Event: Constituting Nationalism: Populism, Whiteness and Pluralism

Abstract

The rise of nationalist movements across the West appears to present a threat to the goal of promoting cultural pluralism (in view, for example, of its apparent hostility to generous immigration and refugee policies), but is it? This paper argues that it is not, and that indeed pluralism and nationalism may not only be compatible but in many respects complementary.

The growing political influence of nationalist movements in the West is increasingly difficult to ignore. The unexpected election of President Trump and the U.K.’s Brexit decision have captured the headlines, but the recent news has been filled with further evidence, from recent election results in Austria, the Czech Republic and Germany, to Catalonia’s dash for independence and Scotland’s announced intention to follow the same path.

These movements certainly appear a threat to the pluralist goal of promoting diversity. Common features of these nationalist movements are (1) a concern with protecting and promoting national identity, and (2) an emphasis on the threat posed to that identity by large numbers of immigrants and refugees and multicultural policies. Understandably, these attitudes are often seen as suggesting suspicion or at best ambivalence about domestic cultural diversity.

On examination, however, these nationalist movements are not, and need not be, sharply opposed to pluralist policy. Most of these nationalist movements draw a sharp distinction between immigrants (and especially illegal immigrants) and citizens with hyphenated identities. While they generally seek reduced immigration levels, they do not generally dispute the value of immigration per se, and generally acknowledge the valuable cultural contributions made by citizens of hyphenated identity. Critics tend to view the latter as lip service, but it could also be argued that this attitude of appreciation springs from the same source as their nationalism - that is, an acute appreciation of the importance of shared identity (or identities) in enhancing people’s quality of life and the functioning of public institutions. If this is correct, then the current nationalist movements may be compatible with, and even conducive to, diversity as long as it is consistent citizen’s strong sense of membership in the national community as well.

Author

• Avery Elias Plaw, University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth