The Nationalism of the Vulnerable

This chapter queries why would the vulnerable adopt nationalism as their preferred strategy. It provides a detailed discussion about the economic crisis and crisis of identity. The chapter argues that the roots of this state of affairs are to be found somewhere at the very end of the last century — a growing sense of self-satisfaction led liberal democratic nation-states to passivity. The chapter also elaborates the significant change that happened in schools and academic institutions which were no longer called on to make and remake the national narrative but rather to be critical, open-minded, and pluralistic. It then shifts to review how the vulnerable found themselves at the bottom of the social heap after having lost their protected social status. It illustrates how the poor all over the world are stereotyped in similar ways. The chapter discusses the implications of the elimination of class from the social and the political discourse. It then examines the strong affinity between class and national choices.