Bourgeois nationalism explained

In Marxist theory, bourgeois nationalism is the ideology of the ruling capitalist class which aims to overcome class antagonism between proletariat and bourgeoisie by appealing to national unity. It is seen as a distraction from engaging in class struggle and an attempt to impose interests of capitalists on the proletariat by constructing capitalist interests as "national interests". Internationally, it aims to create antagonism between workers of different nations and serves as a divide-and-conquer strategy. The bourgeois nationalism is contrasted with left-wing nationalism and proletarian internationalism.

Usage

Soviet Union

See also: Soviet anti-Zionism and Ukrainian nationalism. After the October Revolution, the Bolshevik government based its nationalities policy (korenization) on the principles of Marxism. According to these principles, all nations should disappear with time, and nationalism was considered a bourgeois ideology.^[1] By the mid-1930s these policies were replaced with more extreme assimilationist and Russification policies.^{[2] [3] [4]} The term was used indiscriminately to smear national groups opposed to Russian centralism.^[5]

In his Report on the 50th anniversary of the formation of the USSR, Leonid Brezhnev emphasized: "That is why Communists and all fighters for socialism believe that the main aspect of the national question is unification of the working people, regardless of their national origin, in the common battle against every type of oppression, and for a new social system which rules out exploitation of the working people."^[6]

In the Soviet Union throughout its existence, the term generally referred to Ukrainian, Estonian, Latvian, Armenian, Kazakh and other types of nationalism that were propagated by the Soviet Union's non-Russian minorities. The Soviet leadership saw their struggle for independence as a threat to the entire existence of the USSR's communist regime.^{[7] [8] [9]}

China

Bourgeois nationalism as a concept was discussed by China's president, Liu Shaoqi as follows:

Jews and Zionism

In 1949, the Communist Party USA declared the Zionist movement to be a form of "Jewish bourgeois nationalism".^[10]

Writing for People's World, the leftist activist John Gilman referred to Jewish bourgeoisie nationalism as having multiple varieties, including Jewish assimilationism and Zionism.^[11]

See also

• Class collaboration
• Korenization
• Liberal nationalism
• Proletarian internationalism (an antonym of bourgeois nationalism)
• Russification
• Social patriotism
• Socialist patriotism
• Sovietization

Further reading

• Internationalism and Nationalism by Liu Shaoqi
• Marxism and Nationalism by Tom Lewis

Notes and References

1. Encyclopedia: Nationalism in the Soviet Union . Victoria Khiterer . Khiterer . V. . 2004 . Encyclopedia of Russian History . Macmillan Reference USA.
2. Book: Nicolaïdis . Kalypso . Echoes of Empire: Memory, Identity and Colonial Legacies . Sebe . Berny . Maas . Gabrielle . 2014-12-23 . . 978-0-85773-896-7 . en . Elsewhere in the USSR, the late 1930s and the outbreak of World War II also saw some significant changes: elements of korenizatsiya were phased out... the Russians were officially anointed as the 'elder brothers' of the Soviet family of nations, whilst among historians Tsarist imperialism was rehabilitated as having had a 'progressive significance' . Google Books.
3. Chang . Jon K. . Tsarist continuities in Soviet nationalities policy: A case of Korean territorial autonomy in the Soviet Far East, 1923-1937 . Eurasia Studies Society of Great Britain & Europe Journal.
4. Vplyv uyavlenʹ pro sotsialistychnyy sposib zhyttya na spryamuvannya suspilʹno-politychnoyi aktyvnosti naselennya Ukrayiny: istoriohrafiya . uk:Вплив уявлень про соціалістичний спосіб життя на спрямування суспільно-політичної активності населення України: історіографія . uk . The influence of ideas about the socialist way of life on the direction of social and political activity of the population of Ukraine: historiography . K. . Nikolayets . uk:Наукові записки з української історії: Збірник наукових праць . Naukovi Zapysky Z Ukrayinsʹkoyi Istoriyi: Zbirnyk Naukovykh Pratsʹ . Scientific notes on Ukrainian history: Collection of scientific papers . 2011 . 26 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120620110024/http://www.nbuv.gov.ua/portal/Soc_Gum/Nzzui/2011_26/index.htm . 20 June 2012 . 293.
5. Web site: Nationalism. 1 June 2023.
6. Book: Brezhnev, L. I. . Leonid Brezhnev . The 50th Anniversary of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics . Moscow . 1972 . 10.
7. Khiterer, В. (2004), "Націоналізм в Радянському Союзі", в Енциклопедії російської історії, М. довідник США
8. Фролов М. О. Сталін і Україна: особливості стосунків між кремлівським диктатором, українським народом, керівництвом УСРР і КП(Б)У в 1920-х рр. ст. / Наукові праці історичного факультету Запорізького національного університету. — Запоріжжя: ЗНУ, Історія України 20–30-х рр. XX, 2011. — Вип. XXX. — 368 с.
9. http://www.nbuv.gov.ua/portal/soc_gum/Nikp/ Науковий і культурно-просвітній краєзнавчий часопис “Галичина”
10. News: COMMUNISTS HERE TO FIGHT ZIONISM; Freiheit Association Apologizes for Not Embracing Stand of Ehrenburg Earlier . . 31 March 1949 . 2023-05-06 . Schwartz . Harry .
11. Web site: Zionism what it does and does not mean . 16 January 2003 . . 2023-05-06.