Search results

Even if Norway has said no to the EU, the country is practically very integrated with the Union via the EEA and the Schengen Agreement. Norwegian intellectuals who oppose the EU view it in general through methodological nationalism, normative nationalism, instrumentalism and neoliberalism. Intellectuals who support the EU come with their own biases, such as an emphasis on cosmopolitanism and a righteous based Europe. The opinion of intellectuals matters a great deal, since the intellectuals reflect the prevailing opinion in the society. In order for the Norwegian EU debate to advance, it would be important for the emphasis to move away from the previously mentioned generalizations. L. Pitkaniemi

The article presents the argument that imperialism and nationalism are not necessarily contradictions. The article argues that empires are more than administrative entities without a collective identity and the Spanish Empire's legitimacy based on exporting its national identity to all parts of the empire is used as an example. Other empires were also based on a collective identity and promoted this identity to legitimize colonial and imperial expansion. The article states that religion was the imperial ethos for the Spanish empire in the late 15th and 16th century. The relationship between church and state underwent significant changes that resulted in a religious basis for political units collective identity, empires and/or states. A brief historical review of the Spanish Empire is presented. The relationship between empire, state, and nationalism is discussed. The role of religion in colonial expansion is explored. This article is one in a series of articles on the topic of empires. References. E. Sundby

Philosophizes over the concept 'national interest'. 'Nation' is a problematic concept, because it assumes a united people acting together. The 'state' also possesses its conceptual problems, but can be characterized as an ideological object able to act. It is therefore important to realize that the concept 'national interest' is not exactly definable, but is instead dependent upon who, where and how it is used. L. Pitkaniemi

An explanation for why the success of the Communist Party of China (CPC) relies heavily on the middle class and the rational, emotional and national reasons for why their support continues. According to the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) the strong yearly economic growth has lifted 15% (or 200 million people) to the middle class in China, which has become the group that most benefits from the status quo. While only 5.4% of Chinese belong to the CPC in entrepreneurs this percentage rises to 30-60% depending on the region. Thus even if the middle class shows often apathy towards politics, they still employ party membership as a means to success. L. Pitkaniemi