Neo-liberalism and Nationhood Prabhat Patnaik September 5, 2021
The anti-colonial nationalism that informed the struggle for liberation in third world countries was, as is well-known, of an entirely different genre from the bourgeois nationalism
Anti-colonial nationalism by contrast was not engaged in the acquisition of an empire, was inclusive, and saw the raison d’etre of the nation in an improvement in the conditions of life of the people. Since the anti-colonial struggle was a multi-class struggle, incorporating the workers and peasants, in addition to the national bourgeoisie, the stamp of bourgeois nationalism of the European variety could never be imprinted upon it.
Building a nation in a third world country is an impossibility when the peasantry is experiencing destitution. Whatever support bourgeois nationalism commanded in Europe, and this support itself was rather shallow as the first world war demonstrated, was because there was a degree of improvement in the conditions of the working people that it had brought about.
in countries like India the very project of nation-building requires a strategy of development that protects peasant agriculture until it voluntarily self-transcends into collectives and cooperatives, a strategy that must in short lead to socialism. The pursuit of a socialist strategy in such a context is not just a matter of desirability; it is also essential for the survival of the nation as an independent entity.