“The origins of nationalism lay not in the folk, nor in the individual's repressed passion for some sort of wholeness or identity, but in the machinery of world political economy.” Where do we find an elaboration on that?
You can find an exact, word-for-word elaboration of that quote in Tom Nairn’s classic 1975 essay, “The Modern Janus”, published in the New Left Review. [1, 2, 3, 4]
Nairn later integrated and expanded this thesis into his foundational 1977 book, The Break-up of Britain: Crisis and Neo-Nationalism. [5, 6, 7]
Nairn's text provides a specific structural framework that elaborates on how the global economy—rather than romantic ideas of "the folk"—manufactured modern nationalism:
1. The Core Argument: The Uneven Development of Capitalism
Nairn rejects the romantic view that nationalism naturally bubbles up from ethnic roots or a psychological need for belonging. Instead, he argues that nationalism was a structural byproduct of the uneven spread of global capitalism. [1]
- The Global Wave: When industrial capitalism expanded outward from Great Britain and Western Europe, it did not develop evenly across the globe.
- The Shockwave: It hit less-developed peripheral regions (like Central Europe, Latin America, and later Asia and Africa) as an invasive, highly unequal force that threatened to dominate and impoverish them. [8, 9, 10, 11, 12]
2. The Role of the Provincial "Intelligentsia"
This brings the discussion directly back to our previous conversation about educated middle-class leaders. Nairn explains that when the shockwave of global capitalism hit a less-developed region, the local educated elites (the journalists, lawyers, and military officers) realised they were trapped: [13]
- They could not compete directly with the advanced economies on equal terms.
- They could not rely on the illiterate, un-industrialised masses to build a modern economy overnight.
To survive and build power, this local elite had to invite the masses into history. They did this by rewriting localised folk customs, language, and myths into a unified political ideology: nationalism. [14, 15]
3. The "Janus" Metaphor
Nairn uses the image of Janus—the Roman god with two faces looking in opposite directions—to elaborate on this phenomenon: [16, 17, 18]
- The Forward-Looking Face: Nationalism looks toward the future, seeking economic modernisation, factories, infrastructure, and state independence. [19]
- The Backward-Looking Face: To mobilise the uneducated population to achieve that modernisation, the elite must look backward, weaponising romantic myths, ancient histories, and emotional appeals about blood and soil.
In short, Nairn argues that nationalism is an eccentric defensive mechanism forced upon the world's less-developed regions by the harsh inequalities of the global political economy. The "repressed passions" and "folk traditions" are not the cause of nationalism; they are the raw materials that middle-class elites use to build a protective state wall against foreign economic dominance. [1, 20, 21, 22]
Nairn argues that nationalism is an eccentric defensive mechanism forced upon the world's less-developed regions by the harsh inequalities of the global political economy. How does his thesis fit into the resurgence of the contemporary nationalist fervour, xenophobia, Islamophobia, etc.?
To apply Tom Nairn’s thesis from The Modern Janus (1975) to contemporary nationalism, xenophobia, and Islamophobia, we have to look at how the global political economy has shifted. [1]
Nairn originally argued that nationalism was a defensive reflex of the underdeveloped periphery trying to protect itself from the advanced capitalist core. Today, the mechanism has reversed: contemporary nationalism is a defensive reflex of the de-industrialised West trying to protect itself from the destabilising forces of hyper-globalisation. [2]
Nairn’s framework perfectly explains our current political climate through three structural shifts in the world economy:
1. The Reversal of "Uneven Development"
In the 19th and 20th centuries, the West was the undisputed economic core, and the rest of the world was the periphery. Today, hyper-globalisation and financialisation have hollowed out the Western working and middle classes while shifting manufacturing centres to Asia.
- The Modern Application: Citizens in the US (the Rust Belt), the UK (the post-industrial North), and Western Europe feel abandoned by global capital.
- The Nairn Fit: Just as 19th-century peripheral elites used nationalism to shield themselves from British capital, modern populist politicians use nationalism to promise protection from global supply chains, outsourcing, and international trade agreements. It is still an eccentric defensive mechanism against the global market, but it is now being deployed by the former core.
2. The Weaponisation of the "Backward-Looking" Face (Janus)
Nairn noted that because the global economy is abstract and cold, elites cannot mobilise people using GDP statistics; they must look backward to "irrational" myths, history, and identity.
- The Modern Application: When contemporary politicians campaign on "Make America Great Again," British imperial nostalgia ("Take Back Control"), or the preservation of "Christian Europe," they are practicing Nairn’s Janus-faced strategy.
- The Nairn Fit: Because modern political leaders cannot actually halt the flows of global finance or structural automation, they overcompensate by hyper-focusing on the cultural, backward-looking face of Janus. They offer symbolic cultural sovereignty (walls, flags, identity) as a substitute for the economic sovereignty they can no longer provide.
3. Xenophobia and Islamophobia as Structural Scapegoating
Nairn argued that nationalism requires drawing a hard border to keep out the chaotic forces of the global economy. In the 21st century, the most visible symptoms of the global economy are not just goods, but the mass migration of people—driven by Western military interventions, economic inequality, and climate displacement.
- The Modern Application: Migrants and refugees (particularly from Muslim-majority nations into the West) arrive as the human face of a destabilised global system. [3]
- The Nairn Fit: Islamophobia and xenophobia are the ideological tools used to define who is outside the protective wall. Because the actual engine of economic anxiety is an invisible, untouchable global financial system, the defensive mechanism of nationalism misdirects that anxiety toward highly visible, vulnerable cultural targets. Islamophobia treats the Muslim migrant not just as a religious minority, but as an existential threat to the "imagined community" that the nation is desperately trying to preserve. [4]
The Contemporary Paradox
Ultimately, Nairn’s thesis shows that today's nationalism is a tragic symptom, not a cure. The working classes of the West are experiencing the same terrifying vulnerability to the global political economy that the developing world experienced two centuries ago.
However, because contemporary nationalist leaders are tied to the same capitalist systems, they cannot actually fix the uneven distribution of wealth. They are left with only one half of the Janus face: the amplification of cultural grievance, xenophobia, and fear of the outsider to keep political power.
Why is the word 'eccentric'?
When Tom Nairn calls nationalism an “eccentric” defensive mechanism, he isn’t using the word in the casual modern sense of being "quirky" or "weird." He is using its precise, literal etymological meaning: ex-centric (out of centre), alongside its structural and psychological contradictions.
In the context of the global political economy, Nairn labels nationalism "eccentric" for three specific reasons:
1. The Literal Meaning: It is Driven from the Outside (Ex-Centric)
In mechanical engineering, an "eccentric" wheel is one that rotates around an off-centre axis, causing an irregular, wobbling motion. Nairn applies this to politics: [1]
- The engine driving a country's nationalism does not actually sit inside that country's culture.
- Instead, the engine sits outside—in the global "centre" of Western capitalism.
- Nationalism is an irregular, wobbling reflex forced upon a society by external economic shocks. It is "eccentric" because its true cause is completely decentered from the nation itself.
2. The Structural Contradiction: Using the Past to Build the Future
Nairn finds the actual mechanism of nationalism deeply contradictory and paradoxical. To modernise a country and compete in the global market, a society must look forward (build factories, infrastructure, and modern legal codes).
- Yet, to get the population to agree to this painful process, leaders must look backward (invoking ancient myths, blood-and-soil rhetoric, and tribal history).
- It is "eccentric" because it uses irrational, regressive cultural tools to achieve rational, progressive economic goals. It acts like a political time machine, moving forward by steering looking through the rearview mirror.
3. The Pathological Reflex: Poisoning the Patient
Finally, Nairn views nationalism as a highly unstable, volatile defense mechanism. When a society feels threatened by global economic inequality, it builds a nationalist wall to protect itself. However, that wall almost always breeds xenophobia, chauvinism, and internal oppression.
- It is an "eccentric" solution because the very thing meant to save a society from external destruction (national pride) often leads to its internal moral or political decay. It is a protective shield that frequently morphs into a weapon against its own people and neighbours.
In short, for Nairn, nationalism is "eccentric" because it is a forced, contradictory, and deeply volatile detour that societies are driven into by the harsh, uneven pressures of global capitalism.
Part 1 references
[10] https://muse.jhu.edu
[13] https://jacobin.com
[14] https://www.cato.org
[17] https://brill.com
Part 2 references
Part 3 reference
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