Civic versus cultural nationalism

Detail

1. What binds a nation together? Two answers

• Every nation needs a common political identity, meaning a shared sense of "we" that holds its people together.
• There are two main answers to what this bond should be:
• Cultural nationalism says the bond is a shared culture: a common language, religion or descent (family line or ancestry).

• Civic nationalism says the bond is political: shared citizenship and loyalty to shared constitutional values.

• NCERT examines both answers. It prefers the political (civic) basis for a democracy.

2. Cultural nationalism: definition and appeal

• Cultural nationalism (also called ethnic nationalism) means the nation is defined by a shared culture that people are born into. That culture may be a language, a religion or a common ancestry.
• Why it appeals to people:
• A shared language makes it easier for people to talk to one another.

• It gives people common beliefs, festivals and symbols, which build emotional bonds.

• Its roots in thought: the German Romantic tradition

• Johann Gottfried von Herder (1744–1803) said each culture has its own collective identity, an "ethnic soul" (Volksseele). In his view, a nation's destiny is to protect and perfect the true character of its Volk (people) and to stop it being lost through ignorance or foreign rule [3].
• For Herder, patriotism was a spiritual attachment to the nation and its own language and culture. It was not mainly a political virtue tied to protecting liberty [4].
• Johann Gottlieb Fichte (1762–1814) gave the Addresses to the German Nation (1807–08). These lectures tried to rally German nationalists against Napoleon [5].

3. Why cultural nationalism threatens democracy (NCERT's two reasons)

Reason 1: religions are internally diverse

• Every major religion has sects (groups inside a religion) that read its holy texts differently.
• A nation built on one religion must choose one "correct" version of that religion.
• The result is an authoritarian and oppressive society. Even people inside the same religion who disagree get pushed aside.

Reason 2: most societies are culturally mixed

• Most countries contain many religions and languages living side by side.
• Forcing one religion or one language on everyone excludes some groups:
• It can limit their religious freedom.
• It can put at a disadvantage people who do not speak the national language, for example in jobs, schooling and dealings with the government.

NCERT's conclusion

• Democracies should imagine the nation in political, not cultural, terms.
• Citizens should be asked to be loyal to the values of the Constitution, not to one religion, race or language.

4. Civic nationalism: definition and models

• Civic nationalism means a person belongs to the nation through:
• Citizenship, which is legal membership of the state (in India, Part II of the Constitution, Articles 5–11).
• Loyalty to the values written in the Constitution, such as democracy, secularism and liberty.

• Duties towards fellow citizens (in India, the Fundamental Duties in Article 51A, such as promoting harmony across religious, language and regional differences).

• Models:

Model	What binds people
French republic	Equal citizenship under the Republic and its ideals
American creed	Belief in liberty, equality and democracy, whatever a person's origin
Indian Constitution	Equal citizenship, secularism and rights for all, across many languages and faiths

• Habermas's version: belonging to a "nation of citizens" does not rest on a shared language or a common ethnic or cultural origin. It rests on a shared political culture built on liberal constitutional principles [2].

5. Cases of cultural nationalism in practice

Sri Lanka: the Sinhala Only Act (1956)

• The government of S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike passed the Act in 1956. It made Sinhalese the only official language of Ceylon (now Sri Lanka). It had been a key promise in his landslide win in the 1956 general election [6].
• What followed:
• The Tamil-speaking minority opposed it strongly, and rioting broke out [6].
• The Bandaranaike–Chelvanayakam pact (1957) allowed Tamil to be used officially in Tamil-speaking provinces [6].

• Under pressure from Sinhalese extremists, Bandaranaike cancelled the pact in April 1958. Severe communal violence and large migrations followed, and a state of emergency was declared [6].

• This is NCERT's standard example of majoritarianism, meaning rule that serves only the majority group (see Class 10, Power Sharing). India chose power-sharing and language accommodation instead.

Pakistan: the two-nation idea

• This idea held that Hindus and Muslims were two separate nations.
• Religion became the basis for a separate state. This is a clear case of the nation being defined culturally.

6. The Indian debate, stated even-handedly

• The cultural-nationalist view:
• V.D. Savarkar's Essentials of Hindutva (1923) is the classic statement of this view.

• It argues that a shared civilisational culture lies beneath Indian unity.

• The critics' view:

• Such a definition excludes religious minorities.

• It also excludes dissenting sects within the majority faith. This is NCERT's first reason in action.

• The civic view (NCERT's preference):

• India's unity rests on the Constitution.

• Every citizen has equal citizenship and secularism (the state treats all religions equally and favours none).

• Link to Tagore: Rabindranath Tagore criticised aggressive nationalism and valued humanity above the nation. This adds to the case against defining India by a single culture.

7. Hans Kohn's dichotomy and its critique

• Hans Kohn (1944), a historian of nationalism, split nationalism into two kinds:
• A "civic West" (Britain, France, the USA), where the nation rests on reason, citizenship and political ideals.

• An "ethnic East" (Germany, Central and Eastern Europe), where the nation rests on descent, language and folk culture.

• Criticism:

• Even civic nations have a cultural core: a common language, national holidays and a founding story (for example, the American Revolution or the French Revolution).
• So the line between "civic" and "ethnic" is not clean. Most real nations mix the two.
• Dividing the world into a "good West" and a "bad East" is also too simple.

8. Constitutional patriotism

• Definition: Constitutional patriotism (Verfassungspatriotismus) means citizens' loyalty should attach to the rules, procedures and values of a liberal-democratic constitution, not to ethnicity or culture.
• Origins:
• Dolf Sternberger coined the term in 1979.

• Jürgen Habermas developed it in post-war West Germany, where ethnic nationalism had led to Nazism.

• Habermas's argument:

• Loyalty rests on universal liberal principles in the constitution, not on a "prepolitical, homogeneous community". A prepolitical community is one that existed before the state, built on shared blood or culture [2].
• The modern constitutional state must make sure its political culture does not favour or discriminate against any particular subculture [2].

The Indian parallel: Ambedkar's "constitutional morality"

• B.R. Ambedkar introduced the Draft Constitution on 4 November 1948. He used the idea of constitutional morality to defend putting administrative details into the Constitution [7].
• He borrowed the term from George Grote, a historian of Greece. Grote's meaning had two parts [7]:
• deep respect for the forms of the Constitution, along with open speech and free criticism of those in power;

• confidence that political opponents will also treat those forms as sacred.

• Ambedkar warned: "Constitutional morality is not a natural sentiment. It has to be cultivated. We must realize that our people have yet to learn it." [7]

• In later Supreme Court rulings:
• Navtej Singh Johar v. Union of India (2018) struck down Section 377 IPC (the section of the Indian Penal Code that criminalised gay sex) to the extent it criminalised consensual sex between adults [8].
• The Court held that laws must be tested against constitutional morality, not "majoritarian morality" [8].
• Constitutional morality asks the state, including the courts, to protect the diverse, plural and inclusive nature of society [8].
• This is the civic idea of the nation put into practice in law.

Critique of constitutional patriotism

• It may be too "thin". Abstract loyalty to rules and procedures may not move people to make sacrifices, such as fighting in wars, paying taxes or showing solidarity with strangers.
• Cultural bonds (language, memory, symbols) supply the emotional "thickness" that procedures alone lack.
• This brings back Kohn's critique: civic nations still lean on a cultural core.

Prelims Hooks

• Herder → the idea of Volksseele ("ethnic soul") and the Volk. Fichte → Addresses to the German Nation (1807–08), given against Napoleon. Both are linked to cultural or ethnic nationalism.
• Sinhala Only Act, 1956 → made Sinhalese Ceylon's only official language. Passed under S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike. Its 1957 pact with Chelvanayakam was cancelled in April 1958.
• Hans Kohn (1944) → "civic West" vs "ethnic East". The trap: the critique is that civic nations also have cultural cores.
• Constitutional patriotism → term coined by Dolf Sternberger (1979) and developed by Jürgen Habermas. It is not Kohn's idea and not Herder's.
• Ambedkar used "constitutional morality" in his speech of 4 November 1948 introducing the Draft Constitution. He borrowed the term from the Greek historian George Grote.
• Navtej Singh Johar (2018) → laws are tested on constitutional morality, not majoritarian morality. Section 377 IPC was read down.
• Essentials of Hindutva → V.D. Savarkar, 1923. It is the classic statement of Indian cultural nationalism.
• NCERT's two reasons against a cultural basis: (1) religions are internally diverse, with sects; (2) societies are culturally mixed, so imposing one identity excludes groups.
• Civic belonging in India: citizenship in Part II (Articles 5–11); duties in Article 51A.

Mains Points

• Civic vs cultural basis for India (GS-II): India has many languages, faiths and sects. A cultural definition risks excluding minorities and dissenting sects within the majority, for example in matters of religious freedom or language. A civic definition rests on equal citizenship, secularism and Fundamental Rights. Sri Lanka's 1956 Act is the warning, and India's language accommodation and power-sharing are the alternative. The balanced view: shared culture can strengthen unity, but it must not decide who counts as a member.
• Limits of the civic/ethnic split: Kohn's dichotomy breaks down because every civic nation has a cultural core. India's own civic nationalism draws on the freedom struggle, national symbols and a founding story. A good answer argues for an inclusive civic nationalism that respects cultural diversity rather than a culture-free civic identity.
• Constitutional patriotism and constitutional morality: Habermas's idea and Ambedkar's warning that constitutional morality "has to be cultivated" both locate loyalty in constitutional values. The Supreme Court applies this through the test of constitutional morality over majoritarian morality (Navtej, 2018). The critique that it is too "thin" to motivate sacrifice suggests a fix: civic education, Fundamental Duties (Article 51A) and shared civic rituals can build the emotional bond.
• Tagore's lens (GS-I/IV link): Tagore warned against nationalism that puts the nation above humanity. This supports a civic, humane idea of the nation over an exclusive cultural one.