On Separating Nations and States

27/06/2025 23 min Episodio 33
On Separating Nations and States

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Episode Synopsis


Nationalism is one of the most powerful aspects of political life, connected with the defining conflicts of today. This episode is dedicated to exploring the differences between nations and states, how they areconfused, and how they have come to be seen as intrinsically bound up together in recent centuries. While there is a largely unconscious conventional notion that nations should ideally have their own states, there is a way to look at things that reveals the opposite. It shows that the fusion of nations and states is not an ideal but a source of conflict and the degradation of national culture itself, and a central problem of political thoughts and life today. References:Anderson, Benedict. Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism. London - New York: Verso, 2006.Gottlieb, Gidon. Nation Against State: A New Approach to Ethnic Conflicts and the Decline of Sovereignty. Council on Foreign Relations, 1993.Jefferson, Thomas. Thomas Jefferson: Writings (LOA #17): Autobiography / Notes on the State of Virginia / Public and Private Papers / Addresses / Letters. Library of America, 1984.Steiner, Rudolf. Towards Social Renewal: Rethinking the Basis of Society. Rudolf Steiner Press, 1999.Questions of Courage is a project of the Youth Section at the Goetheanum, in collaboration with Goetheanum TV. To support the Youth Section Global Access Fund, please visit: https://www.goetheanum.org/en/youth-donations.