Anna Moltchanova

amoltcha@carleton.edu

A pragmatic definition of nationhood

Abstract

This paper presents an understanding of nationhood which can serve as an appropriate conceptual background for the regulation of relations among national groups in multinational states and serve as a basic notion of a coherent international legal system.

I define nationhood as a political culture of self-determination with which members of a nation identify. This definition stays clear of the questionable normative link between nationhood and statehood, and it enables us to differentiate national from other kinds of groups with some similar characteristics, such as ethnic or cultural minorities.

I respond to two objections: that nationhood projects like mine make it unclear to whom the right to self-determination belongs and that they prompt strategic mobilization among national groups.