Naming our own group patriotism and theirs nationalism enables violent in-group dynamics

Evidence

In the 2004 presidential campaign debate, the challenger John Kerry was derided for suggesting that before the USA intervened militarily it should consult with its allies. Part of the reason for such a derision is the severe limitations characterizing global institutions like the United Nations Security Council, and their obvious malfunctioning. Nevertheless, fostering international governance is necessary if we want to keep glorification and nationalistic dérapages in check. It is because we call ourselves patriots, but we call them nationalists, that we continuously fall into violent dynamics, and once these are at play, it is difficult to prevent ourselves from engaging in the many psychological mechanisms that either allow us to deny our own misdeeds or justify them. We need to allow others to tell us about ourselves, and we need a context that encourages us to listen to what they say. — Emanuele Castano, On the Perils of Glorifying the In-group, 91

Categorization

• SHARE: Send to the colleague writing on moral disengagement and intergroup conflict — this is a crisp statement of the identity/euphemism mechanism behind glorification-driven violence.
• XREF: connects to: Patriotism and nationalism are distinct dimensions of group identification with opposing effects — Roderick M. Kramer, Geoffrey J. Leonardelli, Robert W. Livingston, Social Cognition, Social Identity, and…, 2113; Collective violence nearly always activates a we-they boundary from among multiple available identities — Charles Tilly, Regimes and Repertoires, 769; Two-aspect nationalism theory explains RT-versus-CS shift as majority-status security drives in-group versus out-group focus — Ruiqian Li and Paul Froese, The Duality of American Christian…, 229 (+4 more)

Broader Connections

• Patriotism as critical attachment can be distinguished from chauvinistic nationalism #corroborates (0.88)
• Patriotism and nationalism are distinct dimensions of group identification with opposing effects #corroborates (0.82) — Roderick M. Kramer, Geoffrey J. Leonardelli, Robert W. Livingston, Social Cognition, Social Identity, and…, 2113
• Two-aspect nationalism theory explains RT-versus-CS shift as majority-status security drives in-group versus out-group focus #qualifies (0.78) — Ruiqian Li and Paul Froese, The Duality of American Christian…, 229
• Strong ingroup identification may increase intragroup focus rather than outgroup hostility #complicates (0.76) — John F. Dovidio, Peter Glick, Laurie A. Rudman, On the Nature of Prejudice, 468
• Collective violence nearly always activates a we-they boundary from among multiple available identities #expands (0.75) — Charles Tilly, Regimes and Repertoires, 769
• Power, fear, and violence function as idolatrous substitutes in Christian nationalism #exemplifies (0.74) — Andrew L. Whitehead, American Idolatry, 99
• Official nationalism is an anticipatory strategy by threatened dominant groups #exemplifies (0.72) — Benedict Anderson, Imagined Communities, 385