I’ve seen it suggested that the kind of nationalism we are seeing promoted whether by agitators like Tommy Robinson or Christian Nationalists is not of the narrow, hostile ethno-nationalism kind that we associate with the Far Right and racism. The implication is that this civic or cultural nationalism is of a more benign kind.
My observation, having done something of a deep dive into the movement is that it is best described as ethno-cultural nationalism. What does this mean?
Well first of all, it does assume that the priority is the nation and that nations are founded on ethnic lines. English nationalism is at heart about white, Anglo-Saxon identity. However, it is not about narrow ethnic supremacy. There is a belief that alongside that, there is a definable culture that is worthy of preservation, a culture that to some extent is fixed. In our context, this “British” culture is being identified in terms of “Christian culture”, though I think it is fair to say that at this stage, the “Christian” bit is still largely undefined. What is it that makes a culture expressly Christian. This allows different people and groups who identify as Christian to fill in the gaps.
There seems at the moment to be a level of public tolerance in the movement for other ethnic groups, so we have seen non-white British people joining in the marches.
However, there are three things which mean that this nationalism remains at heart an ethno-nationalism.
- Other ethnic groups are expected to find and defined their place in society by reference to the host/dominant ethnicity and culture
- A preference for repatriation where possible is expressed.
- Specific ethnic groups are singled out as the enemy to be feared, othered and scapegoated.
Historically, we have seen Jews as the ones. Scapegoated. We still are seeing that happening on some quarters of politics, particularly on the far left. It is possible to identify as anti-racist whilst allowing the cultivation of antisemitism. The justification for this is that it is “anfi-zionist” rather than antisemitic. In reality it is difficult to tell the difference.
From the 1950s through to the 1980s, it was black, Afro-Carribeans that were othered and dehumanized by the far right. Today the attention is on asylum seekers and on the fear of Islamisation. This means that the target ethno-culture is South Asian-Muslim or Pakistani and Afghan.
Whilst the current approach may appear initially as more nuanced and tolerant, the same historic traits of ethnic nationalism remain..
Faithroots 