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Re: foundations of the nations
Robert Snower (rs222@WORLDNET.ATT.NET)
Wed, 14 Aug 1996 02:39:50 +0000
At 11:36 PM 8/13/96 +0000, thomas w kavanagh wrote:
>On Tue, 13 Aug 1996, Robert Snower wrote:
>
>> In view of the above, how do "ethnies" differ from nations? Or is "nation"
>> an instance of "ethnie?" (Is that the singular of "ethnies?") It would seem
>> from the above characterization of "ethnie," the latter is true.
>
>Go read the book.
>
>> > tribes/ethnoses *are* just as modern as the traditional nation states.
>>
>>
>> rs:
>> I am wondering "just as modern" in what sense. Just as ancestral, as old in
>> origin? One cannot be construed as developing out of the other? Or do you
>> mean simply both of them make their appearance on the contemporary scene?
>> Are they perhaps different cultural arrangements, equally old, with a common
>> origin?
>
>Contemporary political organizations, whether ethnic group, tribe, or
>nation, are adaptations to contemporary conditions. They do not exist
>apart from those conditions. Tribes are no more "traditional" than are
>nation-states, and nation-states are no more "modern" than are tribes.
>
>>
>> What do you feel characterizes the difference between "ethnicity/tribalism",
>> or whatever term you prefer, and the "traditional nation state?"
>
>In the current frame of reference:
>
>nothing
>
>What is the difference between a traditional tribe and a traditional
>nation state? a modern tribe and a modern state? a modern tribe and a
>traditional nation state? a traditional tribe and a modern nation state.
>
>nothing
>
>to quote a famous scholar:
>
>Contemporary political organizations, whether ethnic group, tribe, or
>nation, are adaptations to contemporary conditions. They do not exist
>apart from those conditions.
>
>
>tk
But this is self-evident. Surely the scholar's fame rests on something else
besides. Nor does it change the fact that political organizations, like the
living creatures of which they are composed, and like rocks, are not only
functions of "contemporary conditions," but also of the past.
Best wishes. R. Snower rs222@worldnet.att.net
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