Primordialism is the argument - put forward by both scholars and activists - which contends that nations are ancient, natural phenomena; that one has a nation as obviously as one has a measure of height. This stance is, of course, the stance of most nationalists.

Primordialism can be traced philosophically to the ideas of German Romanticism, particularly in the works of Johann Gottlieb Fichte and Johann Gottfried Herder. For Herder, the nation was synonymous with language group. In Herder's thinking, language was synonymous with thought, and as each language was learnt in community, then each community must think differently. This also suggests that the community would hold a fixed nature over time.

Primordialism encountered enormous criticism after the Second World War, with many scholars of nationalism coming to treat the nation as a community constructed by the technologies and politics of modernity. Though largely discredited, some of its ideas have found parallel in ethnosymbolism.

See also

• Nationalism
• Origin
• Jus sanguinis

Further reading

• Smith, Anthony D 1998. Nationalism and modernism: a critical survey of recent theories of nations and nationalism, London; New York: Routledge.
• Özkirimli, Umut 2000. Theories of Nationalism, London: Macmillan Press.

Nationalism | Politics and race

Primordialisme | Primordialism