What is a nation? When did it arise? Is it the same with the concept of "people", or does the nation have its own properties? Why do people in the United States say "fast food nation"? We will try to find answers to these questions in this article. However, before determining what a nation is, let's look at the concept close to it.
What is the people?
The concept of the people is introduced by mankind enoughlong. From time immemorial it meant a certain community of people connected by common origin, living in a certain territory, belonging to a particular cultural environment.
In different epochs in the category of individuals of a particular peoplethere could be a different tolerance. Thus, in ancient Greece, the people, in opposition to the barbarians, were all those who spoke in ancient Greek. Similarly, things were in China. In medieval Europe, the people were called only privileged classes that had weight in the feudal structure. Numerous peasant masses saw monotonous mob in all corners of the continent. Today the people, as a rule, are called all residents of a certain state. Thus, the concept unites all those who have citizenship or citizenship.
What is a nation? Introduction of the definition
It is important to note that in modern vocabularythere are different visions of this concept and the characteristics specific to the nation. Moreover, there is some conflict with translations from other languages. So, the German "volk" unites both the nation and the people in one word. That is, there is no difference for the Germans. In the English-speaking special literature, the concepts of "nation" and "people" are distinguished. The latter, however, is not quite the same as the people in the Russian language. The Russian-speaking concept of "nation" is to a certain extent the continuation of the people, its development. If the people are more a biological or legal unity that existed since ancient times, then the nation is a socio-psychological concept. For the transformation of the people into a nation, it is necessary for him to realize his community and a common historical destiny. This is not just a set of similar factors like language or culture (although they are extremely important as a basis), this is the psychological awareness of unity by all members of the nation and the desire for joint development. The highest point of development of any nation is the creation of its own state. It is this desire that often determines the birth of a nation in the eyes of historians and sociologists.
Political and Ethnic Nation
Modern researchers of the phenomenon distinguish exactly these two forms among modern nations.
In short, they differ in terms ofnon-indigenous elements. Ethnic nations put at the heart of the bloody unity and biological signs. A classic example of such a nation are the Poles and the Germans. The globalization of the world and mass migration have created the need to integrate foreign elements into the community of the nation. Thus, in the French mass consciousness, the French became the descendants of migrants from the Maghreb countries. Of course, for this they need to share the historical aspirations of this nation. The necessity of the concept of a political nation also creates the emergence of polyethnic states (like the US or the USSR). The concept of "Soviet man" becomes in this case an instrument for combining dissimilar elements into one body.
What is a nation? When did it arise?
Benedict Anderson is one of the researchers of the nationas a phenomenon - introduced the term "imaginary community". So, the nation exists only in the heads of its representatives and arises only when traditional communities like village communities are destroyed, and the worker Dortmund feels national solidarity with the clerk of Rostock. The press contributed much to this unity. And the destruction of traditional communities is an industrial revolution. Thus, the birth of nations, many researchers (including Hobsbaum, Gellner, Smith) associated with the XIII and especially the XIX century in the history of Europe and America.
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