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Is Patriotism Distinct from Nationalism? The Meaning of “Patriotism” in China in the 2000s.

Gustafsson, Karl LU (2014) In Working Papers in Contemporary Asian Studies
Abstract
Since the 1990s, vigorous debate concerning a number of key issues has taken place within the study of Chinese nationalism. Scholars have tended to differentiate between diverse types of nationalism. For example, many studies distinguish between a malign nationalism on the one hand and a benign patriotism on the other. The strongest evidence for such a distinction can be found in survey research, which has demonstrated that patriotism, meaning love for the country, is empirically distinct from nationalism, i.e. the belief in the superiority of one’s country over other countries. In this paper, I take issue with this distinction. I argue that even though such surveys have contributed important insights to our understanding of Chinese... (More)
Since the 1990s, vigorous debate concerning a number of key issues has taken place within the study of Chinese nationalism. Scholars have tended to differentiate between diverse types of nationalism. For example, many studies distinguish between a malign nationalism on the one hand and a benign patriotism on the other. The strongest evidence for such a distinction can be found in survey research, which has demonstrated that patriotism, meaning love for the country, is empirically distinct from nationalism, i.e. the belief in the superiority of one’s country over other countries. In this paper, I take issue with this distinction. I argue that even though such surveys have contributed important insights to our understanding of Chinese national identity, the sharp distinction between patriotism and nationalism risks obfuscating the more important question of what actors are willing to do in the name of patriotism. If people are prepared to die and kill out of love for the country,the distinction between a benign patriotism and a malign nationalism cannot be so easily upheld. Based on a case study of the popular protests against Japan in China in autumn 2012, the Chinese media and government’s response, as well as the content of Chinese patriotic education, I demonstrate that the meaning of patriotism is a key aspect of Chinese identity politics, which has hitherto not been granted sufficient attention. (Less)
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author
organization
publishing date
type
Working paper/Preprint
publication status
published
subject
in
Working Papers in Contemporary Asian Studies
issue
42
pages
32 pages
publisher
Centre for East and South-East Asian Studies, Lund University
ISSN
1652-4128
ISBN
978-91-980900-2-4
language
Swedish
LU publication?
yes
id
194ac2f9-5ceb-4563-bde9-145ff1b7589a (old id 4530040)
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 13:34:10
date last changed
2018-11-21 20:17:30
@misc{194ac2f9-5ceb-4563-bde9-145ff1b7589a,
  abstract     = {{Since the 1990s, vigorous debate concerning a number of key issues has taken place within the study of Chinese nationalism. Scholars have tended to differentiate between diverse types of nationalism. For example, many studies distinguish between a malign nationalism on the one hand and a benign patriotism on the other. The strongest evidence for such a distinction can be found in survey research, which has demonstrated that patriotism, meaning love for the country, is empirically distinct from nationalism, i.e. the belief in the superiority of one’s country over other countries. In this paper, I take issue with this distinction. I argue that even though such surveys have contributed important insights to our understanding of Chinese national identity, the sharp distinction between patriotism and nationalism risks obfuscating the more important question of what actors are willing to do in the name of patriotism. If people are prepared to die and kill out of love for the country,the distinction between a benign patriotism and a malign nationalism cannot be so easily upheld. Based on a case study of the popular protests against Japan in China in autumn 2012, the Chinese media and government’s response, as well as the content of Chinese patriotic education, I demonstrate that the meaning of patriotism is a key aspect of Chinese identity politics, which has hitherto not been granted sufficient attention.}},
  author       = {{Gustafsson, Karl}},
  isbn         = {{978-91-980900-2-4}},
  issn         = {{1652-4128}},
  language     = {{swe}},
  note         = {{Working Paper}},
  number       = {{42}},
  publisher    = {{Centre for East and South-East Asian Studies, Lund University}},
  series       = {{Working Papers in Contemporary Asian Studies}},
  title        = {{Is Patriotism Distinct from Nationalism? The Meaning of “Patriotism” in China in the 2000s.}},
  url          = {{https://lup.lub.lu.se/search/files/3452180/4530041}},
  year         = {{2014}},
}