18 - Globalisation and cultural nationalism

Summary

This chapter examines the relationship between two important but often vaguely defined ideas: globalisation and cultural nationalism. 'Globalisation' is often used to refer to forces that expand beyond borders, whereas 'cultural nationalism' tends to denote forces that stress a coherent identity, either homogeneous or heterogeneous, within national borders. The respective dynamism of both globalisation and cultural nationalism mean that they cannot remain essentially antagonistic forever. They impact upon, react to and influence each other. Globalisation features both forces of homogenisation on a global scale and forces of indigenisation across borders: it flattens the earth and also digs into the earth, inviting resistance by crushing individuality and yet overcoming resistance by indigenising itself into a localised group. It therefore promotes cosmopolitanism at the same time as it solicits cultural nationalist responses. In a similar vein, cultural nationalism contains both forces of domestic parochialism and transnational universalism: it features both inward-looking exceptionalism and outward-looking transcendence. Due to its chequered 20th century history, cultural nationalism not only looks back in anger at itself, its memory and its identity, but it now looks forward, across borders, with compassion toward those similarly situated. Globalisation and cultural nationalism deserve mutual examination.