Journal

Communication & Cognition 2025, Vol. 58, issue 1-2

ISSN

0378-0880

e-ISSN

2953-1454

Title

THE COMMUNICATIVE AND COGNITIVE CHALLENGES OF NATIONALISM HISTORICAL CONTEXT OF CONTEMPORARY NATIONALISM: FROM GRAMSCI’S STRATEGIC NATIONALISM TO NATIONALISTIC SOCIALISM OR NATIONALISTIC LIBERALISM

Author

Fernand Vandamme 

Pages

pp. 51 - 72

Keywords

Ambivalence, Braudel’s law, cognitive and communicative challenges of nationalism, diversity, Gramsci, hegemony, wisdom.

Abstract

Nationalism is an enormous political and cultural force. It is a highly efficient mobilizer of individual and social resources. However, it is also a very dangerous phenomenon. It can easily escape control. Moreover, there are various processes active also in nationalist movements that can be highly destructive. These are (1) the risk that democracy will weaken under nationalism; (2) a strong trend is emerging towards creating greater scale; (3) a third process concerns Braudel's law with increasing violence as a result; (4) the individual but also social law of tendency of more or less unconscious transmission of historically experienced violence, exploitation and injustice, which in turn threatens to be used more or less consciously by an individual or group on other weak, defenseless individuals and groups… History repeats itself but in doing so sometimes transforms the victim into the executioner; (5) vagueness of the boundaries of a specific nationalism. What falls within, what falls outside? This easily leads to discord, conflict, violence…; (6) the danger of degeneration of the ambivalence of the interrelations between individuals and subgroups inside a nationalistic movement; (7) the risk of high investment in armament and welfare( economic success) that gets priority over individual and social wellbeing. To 52 avoid these risks a lot of wisdom, even AW: Artificial Wisdom, rather then only AI is needed!

DOI

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