Episode Description
Scholars keep predicting nationalism will fade, and it keeps surprising us. Slavica Jakelic argues we're asking the wrong questions. Drawing on her experience in Croatia during the Yugoslav wars and her research on religious-secular alliances in Poland and South Africa, she makes the case for 'ethical nationalism,' a form of belonging that serves pluralism rather than undermining it. We discuss why particular attachments matter, how religious and secular actors can work together, and what it might mean to reclaim symbols like the American flag for more expansive visions of national identity.
Show Notes:
- Collectivistic Religions: Religion, Choice, and Identity in Late Modernity (https://www.routledge.com/Collectivistic-Religions-Religion-Choice-and-Identity-in-Late-Modernity/Jakelic/p/book/9781138260399)
- Pluralizing Humanism: Religions and Secularisms Beyond Power (https://www.routledge.com/Pluralizing-Humanism-Religions-and-Secularisms-Beyond-Power/Jakelic/p/book/9781032151083)