In diverse environments like McGill, where everyone seems to be from everywhere, it is easy to feel like you are a direct representative of the country you come from. This often gives rise to a powerful sense of pride. Yet, that same pride begs the question: where is the line between belonging and blindness?
Today’s global political landscape is a hellscape of profit- driven decisions, where states act not in favour of citizens’ well- being but to optimize lower oil prices or increase their economic control over other fragile democracies riddled with corruption. From the new tariffs imposed around the world by the United States to India’s continued import of Russian oil despite global criticism, nations are repeatedly proving how little their governing bodies truly care for national opinion. Even so, when I see an Indian flag in the wild, my heart swells. Why is that so?
In a fragile world like ours, where states seem to go to war at a moment’s notice and we constantly feel the looming threat of nuclear weapons, it is hard to imagine why anyone would choose to continue identifying with their nation. However, national pride is an undeniably powerful emotion that has historically led revolutions, sustained empires, and been the cornerstone value of most great leaders. Still, it is strange that we can feel so strongly towards an entire nation despite having virtually no role in its successes, failures, or sometimes, not even living there. For instance, I have not lived in India, my country of origin, for the last seven years, and yet I still come to its defence in any argument. When asked where I’m from (which tends to be quite often as a first-year), I still take immense pride in announcing that I am from India. Somewhere down the line, a nation can become an integral part of one’s identity, and after that, it is hard to separate it from one’s sense of self, thus leading to what we know as national pride or patriotism. However, it is essential to realize that affinity and pride for a nation do not automatically insinuate a whole- hearted agreement with the state’s legislation or politics. Harbouring love for a nation is a slippery slope because we are never fully in control of its actions. Nations are not singular entities. Therefore, blindly supporting them in the name of national pride can, at times, call into question our very belief system and values. How do we know if our pride has gone too far?
Over the last decade, we have witnessed a Western shift towards conservatism and the rise of authoritarian leadership on an international scale, while norms in “freer” countries are dwindling and becoming increasingly fractured. Still, rather than fighting against these suffocating systems, it seems the world is only being pushed further into the confines of the borders that separate one nation from another. An increasing number of individuals are slipping down the line of national pride towards extreme nationalism. While these features are especially prominent in the United States since Donald Trump’s re-election, extremism can also be found in Russia, France, Germany, China, and India, among others. Increasingly, citizens are being conditioned by nationalist dialogue to believe that international cooperation and globalization are the cause of economic inequalities and social decline. For example, in India, Hindu nationalist rhetoric frequently casts globalization as a Western import eroding cultural traditions. Multinational institutions like the United Nations are losing their global legitimacy as peacekeeping organizations due to the lack of belief in the globalized model, and driving more people to solidify their belief that a realist, nationalist society is more prosperous.
The rise of conservatism and anti-liberalism directly relates to an increase in extreme nationalism. Since Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s first term in 2014, polarization among the people of India has increased as his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has sought votes by perpetuating cultural divisions among the population, reigniting century-old cultural feuds and tensions between the religious minority and majority groups in the nation. Implicitly, Modi’s use of majority-first rhetoric when referring to (what was widely assumed to be) Muslims as “infiltrators” and to Congress as “thieves” seems to have sparked a primal but dormant fury in the eyes of many Hindu people in India. They feel their nationalism is vital in ‘reclaiming’ their country from those who are not truly Indian through violence and destruction.
Essentially, the question of what nationalism versus national pride boils down to is a matter of culture versus politics. My national pride is a reflection of my roots as someone of Indian origin who grew up with the rich, unique teachings and values of those who came before me. Correspondingly, any sense of community I feel towards India is derived from those regional connections and customs. These cultural factors drive my sense of pride more so than any political ideology or alliance; a sentiment I think many people can resonate with in today’s socio-political climate. That is why weaponising heritage to create political conflict in a nation like India, one that has suffered enough division and erasure historically by colonisers like the British, fans fires that are better off left alone. Rather than manipulating national pride to push extremist nationalism and division, national pride should be harnessed as an asset to propel nations into global arenas and achieve their development goals.
It is clear that national pride is inherently linked to a sense of belonging, thus further connecting national pride to culture and identity above all. We cling to the nations that birthed us and make us feel as though we have a place in the world; something of our own that will accept us the way we accept it.
I once saw an Instagram post about the most recent election in Sri Lanka, which said that, “Support without scrutiny is surrender.” That encapsulates what I believe distinguishes national pride from extreme nationalism. Harbouring love for the nation you come from is normal, but, similar to other aspects in our lives, it is essential to scrutinize and critique the structures before us to demand the world we desire. A world without scrutiny of politicians and nations is one of subservience and fatalism, which, frankly, I refuse to accept as our collective reality. In my opinion, extreme nationalism is the easy way out; closing your eyes to the harsh realities of the world and your nation’s role in it by choosing to live in an echo chamber of nationalist propaganda that worships ideologies over morals. There is so much change to be demanded from our leaders, and as the people who make up these very nations, we must take a step back, take off our orange/green/white/ blue-tinted (or whatever your flag colours may be) tinted glasses, and separate our cultures from extremism. We must demand more from the world.