Ethnonationalism Walker Connor

The following sample essay on “Ethnonationalism Walker Connor”: tells about the basis for the formation of ethno-national bonds.

The reading titled “Beyond Reason: The Nature of the Ethnonational Bond”, written by Walker Connor, will provide the contextual background for this think-piece exercise. The central argument of the author is that ethno-national bond is much stronger than patriotic bond. The basis for the formation of ethno-national bonds are never fully based on fact and evidence, but rather on some vague but convincing feeling of kinship within a group of people.

In other words, the concept of ethno-nationality appeals to the notion of common genetic inheritance alongside other tangible aspects such as language, culture, religion, etc.

The author presents a wide range of examples to support the aforementioned thesis. By perusing relevant scholarship, the author does make a persuasive case for the superiority of ethno-national bonds over patriotic bonds. The notion of common ethnicity has played a significant role throughout the history of human civilization, whereas patriotism as is presently understood is a relatively new phenomenon – only with the emergence of modern democratic institutions and the establishment of nation-states did patriotism gain currency in political discourse.

While the reading is not didactic, the author does suggest some key lessons. For example, W. Connor gives examples from the era of fascism during the 1930s to support his claim that ethno-national feeling is stronger in nature than patriotism. If one were to classify all such examples given by the author, it becomes evident that the concept of ethno-nationalism has more often than not been abused by astute political leaders to gain power.

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If one were to evaluate ethno-nationality’s role in human history, it would appear that it has generally been a destructive force. While admitting that patriotism is no more benign than ethno-nationalism, I came away with the impression that these vague conceptions are anachronistic to the realities of contemporary world polity.

Walker Connor

Work Cited:

Connor W. “Beyond Reason: The Nature of the Ethnonational Bond” in Connor (ed.) Ethnonationalism, Princeton University Press, 1994.

The journal article by James Coleman titled Social Capital in the Creation of Human Capital talks in detail about the concept of Social Capital. The author identifies three predominant forms in which social capital manifests: “obligations and expectations, information channels, and social norms”. Social structural conditions under which social capital is created are explained in detail. He prefers the ‘rational action paradigm’, whereby social capital is useful for constructive social action. The author takes surveys of high school students in America to validate his theories and assumptions.

Coleman’s criticizes both the dominant analytic paradigms of social action. Under the sociological model, the actor is seen as socialized and the action governed by social norms, rules and obligations. The “principal virtues of this intellectual stream lie in its ability to describe action in social context and to explain the way action is shaped, constrained, and .