Nationalism and Nativism: Varieties of Other in China

• In Event: Nationalist Politics in Asia

Abstract

Political leaders often invoke nationalist rhetoric to enhance domestic social cohesion by highlighting differences between “us” and “others.” Do these nationalist appeals increase domestic unity, reducing individual perceptions of internal divisions? Or might this rhetoric exacerbate negative attitudes regarding internal others along class, ethnic, urban-rural, or other social cleavages? How does nationalist rhetoric affect domestic grievances? And what factors determine who will be most susceptible to these nationalist primes? This paper evaluates these questions by employing experiments in a nationally representative face-to-face survey of urban China, utilizing a “real-world” nationalist prime. Initial pre-test results corroborate existing accounts that priming anti-foreign nationalism reduces domestic grievances. One counterintuitive preliminary finding is that nationalist primes lead individuals with high incomes and educations (“educated elites”) to hold less favorable views toward migrant workers.

Authors

• Jessica Chen Weiss, Cornell University

• Jeremy L. Wallace, Cornell University

• Lincoln Hines, US Air War College