Economics and Culture: Lenin's Troubles with Nationalism

Abstract

Lenin argued that nationalism should be supported against colonialism, though ultimately subordinated to the interests of the working class. He admitted there were linguistic and cultural issues, but associated the nation state chiefly with capitalist economics. Contrasts Lenin′s historical argument with that of Jacob Gould Schurman who emphasized linguistic and cultural sources of nationalism, and looks at both in the light of basically different kinds of nationalism which developed in Prussia, Caucasian Georgia and the Balkans. In all three cases, the nations have their origins earlier than Lenin supposed, and linguistic and cultural issues are mixed with economic issues in all of them. In at least some cases, nationalism poses insoluble problems unless it is subordinated to a federalist structure.

Citation

Armour, L. (1993), "Economics and Culture: Lenin's Troubles with Nationalism", International Journal of Social Economics, Vol. 20 No. 5/6/7, pp. 84-102. https://doi.org/10.1108/EUM0000000000527