Nationalist solidarity requires an adversary even when none exists.

Evidence

Buddhist monks will continue to play a pivotal role in Sri Lankan politics unless drastic changes take place within the sangha. So will Buddhist nationalists, whose influence has now reached new heights. Once the LTTE’s separatist struggle is neutralized, Sinhalese Buddhist nationalists may even renew campaigns against Christians and Muslims, for their ideology is fundamentally antiminority and requires agitprop to mobilize and survive. — Neil DeVotta, Sinhalese Buddhist Nationalist Ideology, 303 (#exemplifies, via linked claim)

While “nationalism” and “national identity” are closely related concepts, they function differently in the political arena. The cultural strands that make up a people’s national identity tend to be diffuse and politically dormant. To be turned into nationalist ideologies, they need to be stirred up, emotionally charged, and crafted in ways that could foster group loyalty and a proclivity toward political action. This is often achieved by identifying or creating near and distant “others” who can be blamed for not abiding by the nation’s cherished values, challenging its interests, or, in the extreme, threatening its security and survival. — Nadim N. Rouhana and Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian, When Politics Are Sacralized, 1656 (#expands, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: The nationalist ideology needs a manufactured enemy to mobilize — Neil DeVotta, Sinhalese Buddhist Nationalist…, 303; Selfhood and national unity are forged through conflict with a common foe — Nadim N. Rouhana and Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian, When Politics Are Sacralized:…, 1194; National identity requires crafted enemies to become activist ideology — Nadim N. Rouhana and Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian, When Politics Are Sacralized:…, 1656 (+3 more)

Related

• The nationalist ideology needs a manufactured enemy to mobilize (similarity 0.91)
• Sinhalese Buddhist nationalist ideology requires a manufactured enemy to mobilize and survive (similarity 0.85)
• Nationalist demands follow ideology even when they hurt national unity. (similarity 0.84)
• National identity requires crafted enemies to become activist ideology (similarity 0.84)
• Sinhalese Buddhist nationalism manufactures substitute enemies when its primary one is absent (similarity 0.83)
• Entrenched Sinhalese Buddhist nationalism forecloses federal solutions and portends broader attacks on minorities (similarity 0.82)
• Sinhalese Buddhist nationalist ideology frames dissenters as enemies of the state. (similarity 0.82)
• The nationalist ideology refuses to critique the state it helped design. (similarity 0.82)
• Sinhalese nationalist identity is constructed as inseparable from Buddhism (similarity 0.81)
• Language loyalty overrides religious division to unify Sinhalese against Tamils. (similarity 0.81)
• The nationalist ideology is broadly accepted even by non-nationalist Buddhists (similarity 0.80)
• Sinhalese Buddhist nationalism will persist and could expand to other minorities (similarity 0.80)
• With the Tamil enemy removed, nationalists manufactured a Muslim threat to sustain group solidarity (similarity 0.79)
• Defeating the LTTE may strengthen rather than soften Sinhalese Buddhist nationalist dominance (similarity 0.79)
• Nationalists conjure threats to stay politically relevant after their enemy is defeated (similarity 0.79)

Broader Connections

• The nationalist ideology needs a manufactured enemy to mobilize #exemplifies (0.92) — Neil DeVotta, Sinhalese Buddhist Nationalist Ideology, 303
• Ideologies without enemies acquire them when their programs prove hard to fulfill #expands (0.90)
• National identity requires crafted enemies to become activist ideology #expands (0.88) — Nadim N. Rouhana and Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian, When Politics Are Sacralized, 1656
• A solidarity crusade collapses when its manufactured threat vanishes #contradicts (0.85) — John Higham, Strangers in the Land, 1579
• Selfhood and national unity are forged through conflict with a common foe #exemplifies (0.75) — Nadim N. Rouhana and Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian, When Politics Are Sacralized, 1194