Said rejects nation and state as coercive yet affirms national liberation

Evidence

Characteristically, though, the most sweeping statements about ‘nation’ and ‘state’ as ‘coercive identities’ are frequently delivered alongside resounding affirmations of national liberation, of the Palestinian intifada in particular, and the right of the Palestinian people either to obtain a nation- _srate of their own or, alternatively, to live as coequals in a binational state. — Aijaz Ahmad, In Theory, 842

Categorization

• XREF: A textbook instance of the strategic-essentialism bind the reader is researching: Said performs anti-nationalist deconstruction while strategically invoking nation for Palestinian struggle — does this ironic stance collapse into genuine nationalism? — connects to: State-centered nationalism is no longer a viable anti-imperialist answer — Aijaz Ahmad, In Theory: Nations, Classes, Literatures, 595; Said did not intend Orientalism to endorse resurgent nationalism; The nationalist ideology refuses to critique the state it helped design. — Neil DeVotta, Sinhalese Buddhist Nationalist…, 229 (+2 more)
• QUESTION: Is Said’s simultaneous rejection and strategic use of nation an instance of strategic essentialism that Ahmad sees as materially evasive? Worth chasing how Said navigates or fails to navigate this bind.

Broader Connections

• State-centered nationalism is no longer a viable anti-imperialist answer #corroborates (0.82) — Aijaz Ahmad, In Theory, 595
• The nationalist ideology refuses to critique the state it helped design. #complicates (0.80) — Neil DeVotta, Sinhalese Buddhist Nationalist Ideology, 229
• Said did not intend Orientalism to endorse resurgent nationalism #qualifies (0.78)
• Said’s oppositional stance left Western humanist assumptions and nationalist movements unexamined #complicates (0.75)
• Multinational capital objects to sovereign states for the same reasons Said rejects coercive identities #complicates (0.72) — Aijaz Ahmad, In Theory, 912