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1 Can There Be a "Purified Patriotism"?

An Argument from Global Justice 1


Forthcoming in a volume on Cosmopolitanism ed !atthias "ut#$Bachmann %Fran&furt'

!artha C (ussbaum)

* The Janus$faced (ature of Patriotism In 1892, a World's Fair, called the "Columbian Exposition" + was scheduled to ta e place in Chica!o" Clearl# it was !earin! up to be a celebration o$ un$ettered !reed and e!oism" Industr# and inno%ation were to be its central $oci, as &merica planned to welcome the world with displa#s o$ technolo!ical prowess and material enrichment" 'ross ine(ualities o$ opportunit# in the nation were to be mas ed b# the !lowin! exterior o$ the buildin!s, ri!ht next door to the )ni%ersit# o$ Chica!o, that came to be called "the White Cit#"" , &d%ocates $or the poor, increasin!l# upset b# the plan, !ot to!ether to thin how the celebration mi!ht incorporate ideas o$ e(ual opportunit# and sacri$ice" & !roup o$ Christian socialists $inall# went to *resident +en,amin -arrison with an idea. at the Exposition the *resident would introduce a new public ritual o$ patriotism, a pled!e o$ alle!iance to the $la! that would place the accent s(uarel# on the nation's core moral %alues, include all &mericans as e(uals, and rededicate the nation to somethin! more than indi%idual !reed" /he words that were concocted to express this sentiment were. "I pled!e alle!iance to the $la! o$ the )nited 0tates o$ &merica, and to the republic $or which it stands. one nation, indi%isible, with libert# and ,ustice $or all""&s so o$ten happens with patriotic sentiment, howe%er, the *led!e soon pro%ed a $ormula o$ both inclusion and exclusion" Francis +ellam#, the *led!e's author, was himsel$ both a
1 /his paper was ori!inall# subtitled "& Cosmopolitan &r!ument," but I ha%e decided to a%oid the term

"cosmopolitan" $or the reasons !i%en below in note 1" 2 I would li e to than 2atthias 3ut45+achmann, &ndreas 6iederber!, and *hilipp 0chin %er# much $or their in%itation to the stimulatin! con$erence on cosmopolitanism, and $or their comments7 the paper was also presented at the )ni%ersit# o$ 6otre 8ame, and I am !rate$ul to *aul Weithman $or his illuminatin! written comments on that occasion" 2# students in a !raduate seminar on patriotism at /he )ni%ersit# o$ Chica!o in $all 299: helped m# thin in! in countless wa#s" ; +ecause it celebrated the $our hundredth anni%ersar# o$ Columbus' disco%er# o$ the 6ew World" < &ll o$ this is extremel# well portra#ed in Eri 3arsen's no%el /he 8e%il in the White Cit#, a wor o$ popular semi5$iction that has, at the same time, a %er# serious historical thesis" = /he entire histor# o$ the *led!e is exhausti%el# documented in >ichard ?" Ellis's $ine boo /o the Fla!. /he )nli el# -istor# o$ the *led!e o$ &lle!iance @3awrence. )ni%ersit# *ress o$ Aansas, 299=B" /he words "under 'od" were added to the *led!e in 19=<, durin! the Cold War" I discuss the *led!e and the le!al con$licts surroundin! it in 3ibert# o$ Conscience. In 8e$ense o$ &merica's /radition o$ >eli!ious E(ualit# @6ew Cor . +asic +oo s, 2998B, chapters = and 8"

2 socialist and a xenophobe, who $eared that our national %alues were bein! undermined b# the $lood o$ new immi!rants $rom southern Europe" +# the nineteen5$orties, re(uired b# law as a dail# recitation in schools in man# states, the *led!e became a litmus test $or the "!ood &merican," and those who $lun ed the test $aced both exclusion and %iolence" ?eho%ah's Witnesses, who re$used to recite the *led!e $or reli!ious reasons, seein! it as a $orm o$ idolatr#, soon $ound their children expelled $rom school $or non5compliance" /hen, in a wonder$ul Catch522, the parents were $ined or ,ailed $or "contributin! to the delin(uenc# o$ a minor" because their children were not in schoolD /he idea !rew in the public mind that ?eho%ah's Witnesses were a dan!er. a "$i$th column" sub%ertin! &merican's %alues in the lead5up to the war a!ainst 'erman# and ?apan" &ccused o$ 'erman s#mpathies @despite the $act that ?eho%ah's witnesses were bein! persecuted under the /hird >eich $or similar reasons and had to wear a purple trian!le in the campsB, Witnesses $aced widespread public %iolence, includin! numerous l#nchin!s 55 particularl# a$ter the )" 0" 0upreme Court had upheld the compulsor# $la! salute as a le!itimate expression o$ de%otion to the national securit#" *atriotism is ?anus5$aced" It $aces outward, callin! the sel$, at times, to duties $or others, to the need to sacri$ice $or a common !ood, to renewed e$$ort to $ul$ill the promises o$ e(ualit# and di!nit# inherent in national ideals" &nd #et, ,ust as clearl#, it also $aces inward, in%itin! those who consider themsel%es "!ood" or "true" &mericans to distin!uish themsel%es $rom outsiders and sub%ersi%es" *erhaps more dan!erous #et, it ser%es to de$ine the nation a!ainst its $orei!n ri%als and $oes, whippin! up warli e sentiments a!ainst them" @It was $or precisel# this reason that ?ean5?ac(ues >ousseau thou!ht that a !ood nation needed a patriotic "ci%il reli!ion" in place o$ the do!mas o$ Christianit#, which he $ound too mee and paci$istic" .B

: >ousseau, En the 0ocial Contract, "E$ the Ci%il >eli!ion""

; For such reasons, cosmopolitans,/ pursuin! the twin !oals o$ a world in which all human bein!s ha%e a decent set o$ li$e5opportunities and a world in which wars o$ a!!ression do not mar people's li$e chances,0 t#picall# turn a s eptical e#e on appeals to patriotic sentiment" /he# see such sentiments as bindin! the mind to somethin! smaller than humanit#, and in a wa# the# are not wron!" In the process, howe%er, cosmopolitans ma# ha%e lost si!ht o$ an insi!ht $irml# !rasped b# thin ers o$ the late ei!hteenth and nineteenth centuries. that national sentiment is also a wa# o$ ma in! the mind bi!!er, callin! it awa# $rom its immersion in !reed and e!oism toward a set o$ %alues connected to a decent common li$e and the need $or sacri$ices connected to that common li$e" Italian re%olutionar# and nationalist 'iuseppe 2a44ini, seein! the man# wa#s in which the rise o$ capitalism threatened an# common pro,ect in%ol%in! personal sacri$ice, belie%ed that national sentiment was a %aluable "$ulcrum," rel#in! on which one could ultimatel# le%era!e uni%ersal sentiment directed toward the !oal o$ a ,ust world" -e doubted that the immediate appeal to lo%e o$ all humanit# could moti%ate people deepl# sun in !reed, but he thou!ht that thin!s stood di$$erentl# with the idea o$ the nation, which mi!ht ac(uire a stron! moti%ational $orce e%en when people were rushin! to enrich themsel%es" In this lecture I shall ar!ue that 2a44ini is correct. national sentiment can pla# a %aluable role in creatin! a decent world culture" It can pro%ide a %aluable, e%en essential, prop $or stri%in! toward !lobal ,ustice" I shall attempt to pro%ide an ar!ument $or national sentiment deri%in! $rom the re(uirements o$ !lobal ,ustice F an ar!ument rather di$$erent $rom 2a44ini's, but reachin! a similar conclusion" 'i%en the dan!ers inherent in all appeals to national sentiment, howe%er,

1 Cosmopolitanism, as most o$ten de$ined in the contemporar# debate, is a comprehensi%e ethical doctrine

concernin! our duties to humanit# and their relationship to other duties" 2# own political proposals in Frontiers o$ ?ustice. 8isabilit#, 6ationalit#, 0pecies 2embership @Cambrid!e, 2&. -ar%ard )ni%ersit# *ress, 299:B, are not, then, $orms o$ cosmopolitanism, since I accept ?ohn >awls's contention, in *olitical 3iberalism @6ew Cor . Columbia )ni%ersit# *ress, expanded paper edition 198:B that respect $or persons should lead us to choose political principles that do not amount to a comprehensi%e doctrine, principles that can, one hopes, be accepted b# people who ha%e a wide ran!e o$ di$$erent reli!ious and non5reli!ious comprehensi%e doctrines" *olitical principles, then, must not ma e comprehensi%e assertions about the ran in! o$ our ethical duties that would be unacceptable to man# o$ the reasonable comprehensi%e doctrines that modern societies contain" 2# own political principles insist on a basic minimum o$ capabilities $or all world citi4ens7 but the# do not tell us to ran these duties ahead o$ other duties, and indeed the# explicitl# allow a lot o$ room $or attachments o$ other inds, in accordance with one's comprehensi%e doctrine" 0ee Frontiers o$ ?ustice, chapter =" -ence$orth, then, I shall $ocus on !lobal ,ustice and shall a%oid the term "cosmopolitan"" 8 /hese !oals, o$ course, can be endorsed as parts o$ a !lobal "o%erlappin! consensus," and do not presuppose a sectarian comprehensi%e doctrine"

< dan!ers that subse(uent histor# has made so %i%id, an# such pro,ect will need to describe and render practicable a %er# special $orm o$ national sentiment, puri$ied o$ the $eatures that ma e much national sentiment so poisonous" /his need $or a "puri$ied patriotism" was alread# apparent to -erder, who did a lot to set out its in!redients" Followin! -erder's lead in some thou!h not all respects, I shall set out some $urther $eatures that -erder did not emphasi4e, and describe bac !round political and social structures that seem %ital i$ patriotism is to do !ood wor without ris o$ horrors" /he !ood potential o$ a puri$ied patriotism will then be illustrated b# two %er# di$$erent examples. the stru!!le o$ the )nited 0tates a!ainst sla%er# and its le!ac# @$ocusin! on speeches o$ &braham 3incoln and 2artin 3uther Ain!, ?r"B, and the Indian independence mo%ement, as exempli$ied b# 'andhi's political strate!ies"

** A Global Argument for (ational 1entiment 2a44ini's ar!ument $or patriotic sentiment !oes somethin! li e this" 1" It is !ood, ultimatel#, $or all human bein!s to care stron!l# about the !ood o$ all humanit#" 2" -uman bein!s are b# nature somewhat narrow and particularistic in their concerns, and are not able to $orm a stron! attachment to all humanit# directl#" ;" -uman bein!s are, howe%er, able to $orm a stron! attachment to the nation, seen as the embodiment o$ both memor# o$ past stru!!les and commitments to a common $uture" <" /he nation, because o$ its connection with common memor#, episodes o$ su$$erin!, and common hopes, is the lar!est unit to which such stron! attachments can be directl# $ormed" =" 0uch national sentiments, i$ ri!htl# tar!eted on thin!s o$ !enuine importance, such as human libert# and human need, will !i%e people practice in carin! about somethin! lar!er than themsel%es, ,oltin! them out o$ the e!oism that is all too pre%alent and preparin! them $or enlar!ed concern $or the libert# and well5bein! o$ all humanit#" :" -uman bein!s ou!ht to culti%ate patriotic sentiment, as a basis $or !lobal concern" I belie%e that this is an attracti%e ar!ument, and that 2a44ini does show an attracti%e route out o$ e!oism to !lobal concern throu!h a ri!htl# $ocused nationalism" Ene mi!ht, howe%er,

= doubt its $ourth premise" In the nineteenth centur#, nations loo ed %er# lar!e" &s 'erman# and Ital# were uni$#in!, pullin! nations to!ether out o$ disparate re!ional entities and the lo#alties the# had traditionall# inspired, it seemed (uite natural to thin o$ the nation as somethin! %er# lar!e, somethin! that borders on the world as a whole" Callin! the mind to the nation was alread# a wa# o$ callin! it to somethin! %er# %ast, and the success o$ that call seemed to man# people to show that !lobal concern sentiment was onl# a step awa#" ?ohn 0tuart 2ill e%en said that the world was simpl# a "lar!er countr#," 2 and that the stren!th o$ patriotic $eelin! showed that his "reli!ion o$ humanit#" was possible" /oda#, howe%er, we are much more s eptical about the nation" We thin o$ it as smaller, not lar!er, as con$inin! the mind rather than enlar!in! it" 2an# people thin that nations should not exist in a $uture decent world order, and man# more doubt that the nation is the lar!est unit to which human bein!s are capable o$ $eelin! a stron! and %i%id lo#alt#" &n# contemporar# ar!ument $or sentiments that !i%e the nation a special place must, then, be!in b# explainin! wh# it ou!ht to ha%e an# place at all, and what that place mi!ht be" -ere, then, is m# own !lobal ar!ument $or patriotism. 1" /he nation5state, includin! a stron! $orm o$ national so%erei!nt#, is an important !ood $or all human bein!s, i$ the state ta es a certain @liberal, democraticB $orm" &n# decent world culture should promote the continued so%erei!nt# and autonom# o$ @liberal and democraticB nation5states and protect the ri!hts o$ citi4enship associated with them" 2" 6ation5states o$ the sort described cannot remain stable without moral sentiments attached to their institutions and their political culture" ;" /he sentiments re(uired cannot be supplied merel# b# alle!iances to smaller units, such as $amilies, cities, re!ions, and ethnic, racial or !ender !roups. the# must ha%e the nation @under some descriptionB as their ob,ect" <" 0o, there is a !ood reason $or nations o$ the sort described to en!ender sentiments o$ lo%e and support in their citi4ens"

9 2ill, "/he )tilit# o$ >eli!ion," 181< @posthumousl# publishedB"

=" 6ational states o$ the sort described need the moral sentiments e%en more i$ the# are !oin! to underta e pro,ects that re(uire considerable sacri$ice o$ personal sel$5interest, such as substantial internal redistribution or copious $orei!n aid, the o%ercomin! o$ discrimination a!ainst traditionall# mar!inali4ed !roups, or the protection o$ allies a!ainst un,ust domination" :" 0uch pro,ects are !ood pro,ects $or nations to underta e" 1" /here$ore, we ha%e e%en stron!er reasons $or the culti%ation o$ nation5directed moral sentiments" 3et us now examine this bit b# bit" -ow would one de$end premise 1G /he classic de$ense is 'rotian. the national state pro%ides people with a role in creatin! the institutions and laws that !o%ern them" It is thus a e# expression o$ human autonom#" Ene ma# ha%e a lot o$ autonom# elsewhere in one's li$e, but i$ one has no %oice in the choice o$ policies a$$ectin! one's societ#'s "basic structure," i"e" the set o$ institutions that !o%erns one's li$e chances per%asi%el# and $rom the start o$ a human li$e, is cut o$$ $rom a %er# important !ood"11 E$ course that does not #et amount to premise 1, $or there mi!ht be other institutions that do this ,ob e(uall# well, or e%en better" What could the# beG /he second part o$ the de$ense o$ premise 1 is to run throu!h the a%ailable alternati%es, lar!er and smaller, and to show that the# don't do this ,ob, or not well" /he world state7 the lar!e 6'E7 the )nited 6ations7 the multinational corporation7 the ethnic !roup7 the state, cit#, $amil#" 12 &ll o$ these can, I belie%e, be decisi%el# re,ected on !rounds o$ access and accountabilit#" /he contenders that ha%e not been eliminated, it seems to me, are a $ederation o$ nations, such as the E), and smaller sel$5!o%ernin! units within a $ederal nation, such as the states o$ the )nited 0tates and the states o$ India" 0uch political entities do o$$er some reasonable de!ree o$ access and accountabilit#" +oth, howe%er, ultimatel# $all short o$ the nation5state, at least at the present time" /he states within the )nited 0tates and India do their ,ob well, protectin! their
19 /his de$inition o$ "basic structure" is ob%iousl# that used b# >awls in *olitical 3iberalism" 11 0ee the similar ar!ument in m# Frontiers o$ ?ustice chapter <, pp" 2=158" 12 En the world state, see Frontiers, ;1;51<"
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citi4ens' li$e chances and basic ri!hts and opportunities, onl# to the extent that the# carr# out the mandate o$ the nation's Constitution" /he lon! period o$ )" 0" histor# durin! which the +ill o$ >i!hts was thou!ht not to appl# to the actions o$ state !o%ernment was a period, we now see, durin! which man# abuses occurred, and citi4ens were o$ten une(ual in %oice and access because o$ reli!ion or ethnicit#" India's recent constitutionali4ation o$ the ri!ht to education as a $undamental ri!ht o$ all citi4ens re$lects dissatis$action with the decision o$ the constitutional $ramers to lea%e education to be mana!ed b# the indi%idual states" Federalism is in man# wa#s a !ood thin!, and nationalism can certainl# be pressed in that direction, but the primar# site o$ ,ustice remains, as >awls ar!ued, the basic structure o$ a nation" &s $or the E), it certain has man# de$ects o$ access and accountabilit# at present" /o the extent that these ma# ultimatel# be o%ercome, so that the %oices o$ all citi4ens are clearl# heard at the center, and to the extent that the constitutional !uarantees become trul# en$orceable, trul# protecti%e o$ the e(ual opportunities and ri!hts o$ all E) citi4ens, I thin that this would mean that the E) has become a $ederal nation li e the )" 0" and India, and has lost the characteristics that ma e it a distincti%e political entit#" Certainl# India has $ar !reater lin!uistic, re!ional, and cultural di%ersit# than the E), so there is in principle no barrier to there bein! such a $ederal nation" I am not utterl# con$ident about m# %iews on this (uestion, but that is how it seems to me at present" 0o nations are critical $or the promotion o$ people's well5bein! and li$e5opportunities" &s readers o$ Frontiers o$ ?ustice will now, this conclusion does not entail that international or!ani4ations, international a!reements, and man# other entities, lar!e and small, do not ha%e duties to promote decent li$e5chances and a decent world order" I do indeed assi!n them such duties" +ut I car%e out a protected domain $or the nation, and I thin it particularl# important to ma e sure that the power and autonom# o$ nations does not !et $atall# eroded b# the power o$ multinational corporations and the !lobal mar et, both o$ which threaten to undercut the abilit# o$ nations to deli%er $undamental entitlements to their citi4ens" 6otice that we could be!in m# ar!ument e%en $urther bac , with what we mi!ht call

*remise 9" & decent !lobal societ# must secure to all world citi4ens certain basic human !oods or capabilities"1; *remise 1" 6ational so%erei!nt# is o$ importance to at least a lar!e part o$ this tas , $or the reasons !i%en, etc" 6ow to premise 2" >awls de$ends this one %er# nicel# in the lon! and %er# interestin! section o$ & /heor# o$ ?ustice on the moral sentiments, where these sentiments are expressl# tied to political stabilit#" 1< & similar morali4ed account o$ supporti%e sentiment has been o$$ered b# -abermas, in his de$ense o$ a "constitutional patriotism"" 1= >awls's de$ense o$ premise 2 is alread#, as well, a de$ense o$ premise =, since his state is %er# ambitious in the sacri$ices it as s o$ its members in the name o$ ,ustice" It is plausible to thin , howe%er, that the moral sentiments on which >awls relies are a bit too transparentl# rationalistic to do the ,ob he assi!ns to them" -e $ails to consider @althou!h he does not den#B that an essential moti%ational role, in connection with the lo%e o$ ,ust institutions, ma# be pla#ed b# more indirect appeals to the emotions, usin! s#mbols, memories, poetr#, narrati%e"1: >eal people are sometimes mo%ed b# the lo%e o$ ,ust institutions presented ,ust as such7 but the human mind is (uir # and particularistic, more easil# able to concei%e a stron! attachment i$ these hi!h principles are connected to a particular set o$ perceptions, memories, and s#mbols" Consider a *asso%er 0eder"11 When children attend a seder, the# are $ormin! emotions that ha%e as their direct ob,ect the moral ideas contained in the seder. an!er at in,ustice, lo%e o$ $reedom, compassion $or subordinate peoples" /he# $orm these emotions, howe%er, not ,ust on account o$ the propositions concernin! $reedom embodied in the text" /heir emotional responses
1; /his is the contention o$ Frontiers, chapter =" 1< >awls, & /heor# o$ ?ustice @Cambrid!e, 2&. -ar%ard )ni%ersit# *ress, 1911B, <195=9<" &lthou!h >awls

came to doubt the speci$ics o$ this section b# the time he wrote *olitical 3iberalism, he continued to assert that the ,ust societ# needed to operate with a "reasonable political ps#cholo!#"" 1= -abermas, "Citi4enship and 6ational Identit#. 0ome >e$lections on the Future o$ Europe," *raxis International 12 @19925;B, 1519" 1: 0o I ar!ued in ">awls and Feminism," in /he Cambrid!e Companion to >awls, ed" 0amuel Freeman @Cambrid!e and 6ew Cor . Cambrid!e )ni%ersit# *ress, 299;B, <885=29, at <9859" 11 /his example is also used in ">awls and Feminism," p" <98"

are mediated b# the poetr# and the stories and son!s7 b# the presence o$ belo%ed $amil# members !atherin! $or a special occasion7 b# !ood $ood and the opportunit# to sta# up late7 b# sill# ,o es and !ames7 and, as time !oes on, increasin!l# b# the memor# o$ all these sounds and tastes, and the thou!ht o$ lo%ed people, ali%e and dead" /he -a!!adah itsel$ @the ritual textB is constructed so as to encoura!e a t#pe o$ emotional de%elopment that mo%es in a non5linear wa#, bac ward and $orward, between lo%ed particulars and the !eneral ideas that are bein! con%e#ed" /he stabilit# o$ the child's resultin! moral emotions depends in a si!ni$icant wa# on this dialectical process" 6ow ob%iousl# the whole process o$ moral instruction would ha%e $ailed i$, as sometimes happens, children onl# remembered the ,o es and not the deeper moral meanin!s7 thus we usuall# spend time tal in! about those meanin!s and as in! children to do so" &nd the process would ha%e $ailed in a more e!re!ious wa# i$, as sometimes happens, children learned to ha%e compassion, or a lo%e o$ $reedom, onl# $or ?ews7 thus we are well ad%ised to spend time tal in! about other comparable examples o$ oppression in our own societ#, and in the 2iddle East" 6onetheless, it would not be wise to strip awa# the son!s and the ,o es, $or in them the essence o$ moral memor# is situated" In that wa# the authors o$ the -a!!adah were wiser morall# than some modern >e$orm ?ews, those who disdained ritual in $a%or o$ a pure abstract moral $orm o$ discourse"18 &s *roust wonder$ull# shows, sensor# particulars are the %ehicle $or the continued li$e o$ the past" 6ow let us return to the nation" 2# claim is that the moral emotions o$ citi4ens in a >awlsian well5ordered societ# are, or should be, li e this. that is, $ixed on the moral meanin!s o$ the political conception @thus attainin! "stabilit# $or the ri!ht reasons," not a merel# tradition5 !o%erned t#pe o$ stabilit#B, but held to those meanin!s b# rituals and narrati%es o$ a ind that must be more particular, more une%en, more aesthetic, more tra!ic, more sill#, than an#thin! explicitl# en%isa!ed in >awls's text" /hese rituals and narrati%es mi!ht possibl# be con$ined to

18 0ee examples in m# "?udaism and the 3o%e o$ >eason," in *hilosoph#, Feminism, Faith, ed" >"

'roenhout and 2" +ower @+loomin!ton. Indiana )ni%erist# *ress, 299;B, 95;9"

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what >awls calls the "bac !round culture" 55 but on the other hand, inasmuch as the# are essential %ehicles o$ public reason, there is no reason to con$ine them to that role" Candidates $or election, le!islators, e%en ,ud!es mi!ht use such s#mbols and poetic re$erences and son!s and sill# stories, i$ the# do so in a wa# that rein$orces and deepens the moral meanin! o$ the political conception" /his means that we ha%e the same dan!ers to $ace as in the case o$ the seder. we must be sure that citi4ens de%elop a t#pe o$ patriotic lo#alt# that is reliabl# lin ed to the deeper principles o$ the political conception, that does not exalt the )nited 0tates @$or exampleB abo%e other nations, and that $ocuses on su$$erin! humanit# where%er it occurs" In his excellent boo En 6ationalit#, 8a%id 2iller has ar!ued that such emotions, ta in! the nation and its histor# as their ob,ect, are essential $or an# societ# that attempts ambitious redistributi%e pro,ects, or attempts to ri!ht historical wron!s" -e does not belie%e that there is a route to this conclusion $rom an idea o$ !lobal ,ustice, but I do not belie%e that his ar!uments on that score are success$ul, and here is m# attempt to pro%ide him with exactl# that which he deniesD19 2iller sa#s little about the precise character o$ the sentiments he has in mind, but it seems clear that, li e me @and tradin! on a lon! tradition o$ discussions o$ nationalism o$ which >enan's "What is a 6ationG" is perhaps the most $amous exampleB, he holds that the sentiments would ha%e to contain appeal to common memories, ideas o$ common past su$$erin!, hopes $or a shared $uture and commitments to that $uture, all this bein! mediated throu!h poetr#, s#mbolism, ritual, and the li e" @&nd we should not $or!et the role o$ humor, in na%i!atin! di$$icult waters in
19 8a%id 2iller, En 6ationalit# @Ex$ord. Clarendon *ress, 199=B" 2iller @who uses the term "cosmopolitan"

to desi!nate those who $ocus on a dut# to promote !lobal ,usticeB o$ten thin s o$ cosmopolitans as $ocused on rather super$icial consumerist !oals7 at other times, he su!!ests that an# cosmopolitan sentiment must be a $orm o$ hi!hl# abstract -abermasian "constitutional patriotism," which he @ri!htl# in m# %iewB $inds insu$$icient $or moti%atin! real people" I thin there is one %er# bi! issue in his ar!ument that I ha%e not answered here. his %iew that an# ade(uate $orm o$ national sentiment must also be able to pro%ide a !round $or secession and the establishment o$ a national state where one does not #et exist" 2# ar!ument would pro%ide an ar!ument $or independence stru!!les in cases o$ domination or coloni4ation, since the !ood it posits is a !ood o$ sel$5determination, and the Indian people prior to independence did not ha%e that !ood" 2# ar!ument would not, howe%er, pro%ide a !round $or secession to the )" 0" 0outh prior to the Ci%il War. nothin! about its common characteristics as a people !i%es reason to !rant it a separate state, since the !oods o$ %oice, representation, and accountabilit# were alread# present" Indeed, the shoe is s(uarel# on the other $oot, since onl# the )nion would !uarantee representation to blac citi4ens, who were denied it in the 0outh" I thin that m# $ailure to o$$er a !round o$ secession to the Con$ederac# is a !ood point in m# ar!ument, and so I do not #et see that 2iller has an# sound ob,ection to ma e to m# cosmopolitan deri%ation o$ patriotism"

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di%ided societies"29B 0o. 2iller is ri!ht about the need $or national sentiment to moti%ate bold pro,ects that in%ol%e sacri$ice o$ people's sel$5interest" -ere we are bac to the *led!e o$ &lle!iance. seein! the )nited 0tates as united b# moral principles that commit us all to securin! "libert# and ,ustice $or all" was a crucial antidote to the public culture o$ nineteenth centur# capitalism" We must now as how, i$ at all, we mi!ht pre%ent such admirable sentiments $rom !oin! astra#, as these sentiments so clearl# did"

*** The !oral 1entiments of a Purified Patriotism In order to tal about the sentiments o$ a decent or puri$ied patriotism, we need to ha%e a normati%e conception o$ a decent societ#, since it is the institutions and entitlements o$ such a societ# that such sentiments would support" /here are man# conceptions that could !uide our thin in! here, but let me now, $or the sa e o$ ar!ument, stipulate that the @nationalB societ# has committed itsel$ to m# capabilities approach, which !uarantees to all citi4ens a threshold le%el o$ ten central opportunities, or capabilities, and that also assi!ns to the richer nations some de$inite, and rather exi!ent, duties o$ $orei!n aid in the pursuit o$ !lobal ,ustice" 0ince m# conception clearl# re(uires a hi!h de!ree o$ sacri$ice, it will, b# m# ar!ument, need to call patriotism to its aid" +ut the patriotism in (uestion will be the ri!ht sort, and so much thou!ht must be !i%en to (uestions concernin! what sentiments need to be $ostered and a%oided" /wo preliminar# notes" First o$ all, since the societ# I ta e as m# startin! point is a classicall# liberal one, with ample protections $or $reedoms o$ speech and association, 21 the public culti%ation o$ sentiment will not be a $orm o$ coerci%e en$orcement7 later on I shall insist on a e# role $or a %i!orous critical culture as part o$ what will ma e the whole enterprise wor " 0o what I am tal in! about is public persuasion, about the man# wa#s in which public leaders and educators culti%ate sentiments throu!h rhetoric and example, rather than throu!h compulsion,

29 En this point I am indebted to wor in pro!ress b# ?e$$re# Israel, whose account o$ 3enn# +ruce is

particularl# %aluable on this point" 21 0ee Frontiers, chapters 1 and ;"

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how the# portra# delicate topics such as race relations and po%ert#, what sentiments the# in%o e toward the poor and the di$$erent, what ima!es o$ cooperation and reciprocit# the# construct" 0econd, in tal in! about the nation, we must con$ront the $act that an# nation is, $irst and $oremost, a narrati%e, a stor# in which memor# o$ the past and aspiration $or the $uture are salient" +ut an# national narrati%e is at the same time an interpretation" 0ome past e%ents are made salient and others are not" 0ome aspects o$ $oundin! documents are brou!ht $orward and other are le$t behind" /he moral $orm o$ patriotism that I am tr#in! to articulate here will need to attend care$ull# to issues o$ interpretation, selectin! $rom the man# %ersions o$ a nation's histor# the one that ma es best constructi%e sense a!ainst the bac !round o$ the core moral commitments o$ the decent societ#" In other words, it must be interpreti%e in >onald 8wor in's sense. ta in! the materials o$ histor# to!ether with deeper moral norms @in this case, those articulated in the capabilities approachB, the proponent o$ a decent patriotism will tell the stor# o$ the nation's histor# that ma es the best constructi%e sense out o$ all the materials" I$ the nation is a new one, the interpreter has somewhat more $reedom o$ selection7 nonetheless, this $reedom is not total, since the creator o$ patriotism $or a new nation still needs to lin the nation to the past o$ its people, their memories o$ stru!!le, their reli!ious and ethnic traditions" 0o, m# !eneral (uestion is. What moral sentiments will help and hinder the creator o$ a puri$ied patriotism $or the sort o$ decent societ# en%isa!ed in the capabilit# approachG /here is a limit to how use$ul an# !eneral answer to this (uestion can be, in ad%ance o$ nowin! what historical materials we ha%e to wor with, and what current problems the patriot is $acin!" *atriotism, li e and as a species o$ lo%e, is particularistic" 6onetheless, be$ore turnin! to concrete examples, we can at least sa# somethin! about what is !enerall# help$ul and harm$ul F ,ust as we can in the case o$ $amilial or romantic lo%e" -erder alread# said some %er# sensible thin!s about what moral sentiments a wise leader would need to create"22 >e%ealin!l#, he called these all "dispositions o$ peace"" /hese

22 In "3etters $or the &d%ancement o$ -umanit#" @119;51B, translated b# 2ichael Forster in Forster, ed",

-erder. *hilosophical Writin!s @Cambrid!e. Cambrid!e )ni%ersit# *ress, 2992B, 3etter 119, pp" <9<5<99"

1;

dispositions, he said, would include. a horror o$ war7 a "reduced respect $or heroic !lor#"7 a horror o$ a "$alse statecra$t" that connects national !lor# to warli e expansionist pro,ects7 a "puri$ied patriotism" that would eschew and breed contempt $or a!!ression a!ainst other nations and would e(uall# breed contempt and disli e $or internal hatreds and !roup animosities7 "$eelin!s o$ ,ustice towards other nations," sentiments o$ pain when another nation is dispara!ed or treated badl#7 humane $eelin!s about international trade relations, so that people would $eel upset when wea er nations "!et sacri$icedH$or a pro$it that the# do not e%en recei%e"7 and, $inall#, a lo%e o$ use$ul acti%it# on behal$ o$ human well5bein!, to!ether with contempt $or attempts to promote well5bein! throu!h war" &ll o$ these ideas seem to me %er# !ood, and part o$ what m# pro!ram would recommend" En one point, howe%er, a modern patriotism must to some extent di%er!e $rom -erder, not basin! patriotic sentiment on an# ethno5lin!uistic homo!eneit#, or on an# reli!ious sentiments that are di%isi%e" It must appeal to sentiments that bind to!ether the citi4ens o$ modern democracies that are di%erse in reli!ion and ethnicit#, all o$ whom must be treated as $ull# e(ual citi4ens" 2oreo%er, we need to sa# much more than -erder does concernin! the speci$ic moral sentiments that a true statecra$t and a true patriotism should call to its aid" Central to the stabilit# o$ an# societ# that as s people to ma e sacri$ices will be the sentiment o$ compassion, to!ether with an abilit# to ima!ine %i%idl# the predicaments o$ others" *eople will not be mo%ed to address po%ert# constructi%el#, or to !i%e copious $orei!n aid, without a care$ull# constructed and morali4ed compassion that addresses the predicaments o$ the poor, seein! them as both serious and not caused simpl# b# la4iness or bad beha%ior" /his compassion must learn a lesson $rom ancient 'ree tra!ed# in the $ollowin! sense. it must combine compassion $or the pli!ht o$ the su$$erin! person with respect $or that person's a!enc#, treatin! the person not as a passi%e %ictim o$ $ortune, but as a human bein! stri%in!, and o$ten heroicall# stri%in!, a!ainst !reat obstacles" @*resident Fran lin 8elano >oose%elt went to !reat len!ths to portra# the su$$erin!s o$ the poor

1<

durin! the 8epression in this respect$ul wa#, in the artwor s he commissioned $rom the photo!raphers and other artists he emplo#ed"2;B Compassion is not intrinsicall# reliable. $or example, people usuall# $eel compassion more stron!l# toward the near and dear than toward the distant" 2< Compassion must there$ore be care$ull# constructed in connection with the nation's moral norms" /wo other use$ul sentiments are @within proper limitsB an!er and hope" &n!er is o$ course %er# ?anus5$aced. but no stru!!le a!ainst in,ustice can do without it" 3eaders will need to tr# to construct an an!er that is tar!eted at in,ustices, not at people, that is $irml# lin ed to non%iolent political stru!!le, and that o$$ers, in the distance, possibilities o$ merc# and reconciliation" -ope is an essential comrade o$ a reasonable an!er, since people will onl# stic with non%iolence, and hope $or reconciliation, i$ the# do not despair" 2= What, b# contrast, does a wise statecra$t need to watch out $or and tr# hard not to constructG In -idin! $rom -umanit#2: I ar!ued that two o$ the most dan!erous moral sentiments $or a decent societ# are dis!ust and shame" +oth arise in earl# childhood in a primiti%e $orm, and both ta e as their $irst ob,ect the insu$$iciencies o$ the human bod#, its necessar# mortalit#, wea ness, and dependenc#" /hese $eatures o$ human li$e are di$$icult $or ambitious and intelli!ent bein!s to endure, and are the source o$ much instabilit# in the moral li$e" In dis!ust people initiall# re,ect the e$$lu%ia and deca# o$ the animal bod#" )suall#, howe%er, thin!s don't stop there, as people $ind a !roup o$ humans onto whom the# can pro,ect the discom$ort the# $eel about their own bodies, callin! them smell#, slim#, dis!ustin!, and so $orth" 2uch racial hatred and most miso!#n# has such elements, as, o$ course, does the hatred o$ homosexuals" 0how me a politician who appeals to dis!ust in the public realm, and #ou will be pointin! to a dan!erous
2;

0ee m# ">adical E%il in the 3oc ean 0tate3 /he 6e!lect o$ the *olitical Emotions," to appear in 8emocrac# and the 6ew >eli!ious *luralism, ed" /homas +ancho$$ @6ew Cor . Ex$ord )ni%ersit# *ressB" & shorter %ersion has appeared in the ?ournal o$ 2oral *hilosoph# ; @299:B, 1=9518" /he >oose%elt material is in the lon!er %ersion onl#"
2< 0ee m# )phea%als o$ /hou!ht. /he Intelli!ence o$ Emotions @6ew Cor and Cambrid!e. Cambrid!e

)ni%ersit# *ress, 2991B, chapters :587 and "Compassion and /error," 8aedalus Winter 299;, 1952:" 2= 0ee ">adical E%il" $or an account o$ the deplo#ment o$ an!er and hope in the )" 0" Ci%il >i!hts mo%ement" 2: -idin! $rom -umanit#. 8is!ust, 0hame, and the 3aw @*rinceton. *rinceton )ni%ersit# *ress, 299<B"

1=

person, one who is see in! to exploit $or di%isi%e purposes the discom$ort that people $eel at ha%in! a bod# that will die and deca#" I can thin o$ no exception to this claim" 0hame is more complex, since shame can sometimes call us to hi!h ideals that we ha%e let slide throu!h la4iness or obtuseness" +ut there is a t#pe o$ shame, which I call "primiti%e shame," that $ocuses on the alle!ed shame$ulness o$ the %er# $act o$ needin! others, that see s a pure roc 5hard t#pe o$ in%ulnerabilit# and calls that manliness" & "real man," so we are told, is able to be totall# sel$5su$$icient" &n# ind o$ wea ness or need is a si!n o$ compromised masculinit#" 0tudies o$ disturbed adolescents in the )" 0" show how this sort o$ shame, in connection with diseased norms o$ manliness, leads to a!!ression a!ainst the wea and a!ainst women" 21 In m# recent stud# o$ reli!ious %iolence in India,28 I $ound that shame was a e# element in the %iolence o$ militant -indus a!ainst 2uslims, in the 'u,arat po!rom in 2992 and elsewhere" -indu males tell themsel%es a stor# o$ centuries o$ humiliation F $irst at the hands o$ the 2uslims, then at the hands o$ the +ritish" Eut o$ this collecti%e sense that their %irilit# has been compromised emer!es a narrati%e o$ the shame5$ree nation o$ the $uture, as one that will be so success$ull# a!!ressi%e, so e$$icient in cleansin! the land o$ the ones who are blamed $or the humiliation, that -indu pride will rei!n supreme and in%iolate" /his stor# is a lar!e part o$ what $uels %iolence a!ainst 2uslims, as well as the sexual %iolence a!ainst 2uslim women that is such a lar!e part o$ these po!roms" 0o the !ood sort o$ patriotism will ha%e to attend care$ull# to the issue o$ shame, and to the related issue o$ ima!es o$ masculinit#, see in! to culti%ate an acceptance o$ bodil# %ulnerabilit# as a part o$ dail# li$e that is not $ear$ul and shame$ul, and see in! to pre%ent the $ormation o$ diseased stereot#pes o$ the real man as dominatin! and in%ulnerable" /hese ideas con%er!e, clearl#, with -erder's ideas about the need to discoura!e people $rom seein! !lor# in a!!ressi%e militar# exploits"

21 8an Aindlon and 2ichael /hompson, >aisin! Cain. *rotectin! the Emotional 3i$e o$ +o#s @6ew Cor .

+allentine, 1999B7 their $indin!s are discussed in -idin! $rom -umanit# and "Compassion and /error"" 28 /he Clash Within. 8emocrac#, >eli!ious Iiolence, and India's Future @Cambrid!e, 2&. -ar%ard )ni%ersit# *ress, 2991B, chapter :"

1:

/he !ood sort o$ patriotism, a species o$ lo%e, is, as I said, particularistic" &lthou!h it calls the mind to man# aspects o$ humanit# that lead the mind be#ond its domestic con$ines @human need, the stru!!le $or ,ustice and e(ualit#B, it is also irreducibl# attached to particular memories, !eo!raphical $eatures, and plans $or the $uture" I$, then, our political doctrine included the thou!ht that duties to all humanit# should alwa#s ta e precedence o%er other duties, or the thou!ht that particular obli!ations are correctl# understood to be deri%ati%e $rom uni%ersal obli!ations @as a wa# o$ $ul$illin!, locall#, those !eneral obli!ationsB, it would be inconsistent with e%en the !ood $orm o$ patriotism" In earlier writin! o$ mine on cosmopolitanism, I did tentati%el# endorse those two claims"29 It mi!ht appear, then, that m# de$ense o$ a puri$ied patriotism is inconsistent with m# earlier cosmopolitanism" In the mean time, howe%er, m# ideas ha%e chan!ed in two wa#s" First, ha%in! come to endorse @since around 199=B a $orm o$ >awlsian political liberalism, I now thin it %er# important that the political principles o$ a decent societ# not include comprehensi%e ethical or metaph#sical doctrines that could not be endorsed b# reasonable citi4ens holdin! a wide ran!e o$ comprehensi%e doctrines" Clearl#, the stron! $orm o$ cosmopolitanism that denies all le!itimac# to non5deri%ati%e particular obli!ations could not be the ob,ect o$ an o%erlappin! consensus in a political5liberal state" 2an# o$ the reasonable comprehensi%e reli!ious and secular doctrines that citi4ens hold do insist on the importance o$ particularistic $orms o$ lo%e and attachment, pursued $or their own sa e and not ,ust as deri%ati%e $rom uni%ersal duties to humanit#" @Indeed, duties to 'od, in most reli!ions, are particularistic in this wa#"B 0o e%en i$ I had continued to endorse cosmopolitanism as a correct comprehensi%e ethical position, I would not ha%e made it the $oundation o$ political principles $or either a nation or a world order" I do not, howe%er, still endorse that $orm o$ cosmopolitanism as a correct ethical doctrine" @Indeed, inso$ar as I did so in 199:, the endorsement was explorator# and tentati%e"B Further thou!ht about 0toic cosmopolitanism, and particularl# the strict $orm o$ it de%eloped b# 2arcus
29 "For 3o%e o$ Countr#," in For 3o%e o$ Countr#. & 8ebate on *atriotism and Cosmopolitanism @+oston.

+eacon *ress, 199:B" I am extremel# !rate$ul to *aul Weithman $or comments that showed me the need $or this clari$ication"

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&urelius, persuaded me that the denial o$ particular attachments lea%es li$e empt# o$ meanin! $or most o$ us, with the human ps#cholo!# and the de%elopmental histor# we ha%e" In "Compassion and /error" I explore the dar side o$ 2arcus's thou!ht, his con%iction that li$e contains merel# a se(uence o$ meanin!less episodes, !i%en that particular attachments ha%e been uprooted7 and I conclude that the solution to problems o$ une%en lo#alt# ou!ht not to be this total uprootin!, so destructi%e o$ the human personalit#" It should be, instead, an une%en dialectical oscillation within oursel%es, as we accept the constraints o$ some %er# stron! duties to humanit# and then as oursel%es how $ar we are entitled to de%ote oursel%es to the particular people and places whom we lo%e" /hat, then, is m# current comprehensi%e ethical position, and it ma es plent# o$ room $or patriotism, especiall# in its puri$ied $orm, a $orm that accepts the constraints o$ !lobal ,ustice" *4 1upport 1tructures for Purified Patriotism &s m# stor# o$ the *led!e o$ &lle!iance shows, e%en a puri$ied patriotism can turn to the dar side, when anxious human bein!s !et hold o$ it" &lthou!h I ha%e said that we turn to patriotism to render !ood institutions stable @$or the ri!ht reasonsB, the !ood in patriotism ma# itsel$ be unstable in times o$ anxiet#" We would be well ad%ised, there$ore, not to trust entirel# to the !ood will o$ people to eep !ood traditions o$ patriotism !oin!" 3aw and institutional structure are essential props to the !ood in patriotism, and we can mention at least $i%e $actors that will contribute to our !ettin! the !ood out o$ patriotism without the bad" 1" Constitutional ri!hts, an independent ,udiciar#" Constitutional ri!hts are bulwar s $or minorities a!ainst the panic and excess o$ ma,orities" +ecause minorities are alwa#s at ris $rom patriotism, which can o$ten whip up ma,orit# sentiment a!ainst them, a puri$ied patriotism needs to be ad%anced in con,unction with a $irm and comprehensi%e tradition o$ constitutional ri!hts protectin! all citi4ens, and an independent ,udiciar#, detached $rom public bias and panic, as these ri!hts' interpreter" 2" 0eparation o$ powers, di$$icult# o$ !oin! to war" -erder thin s o$ a horror o$ war as the %er# core o$ a puri$ied patriotism" +ut a people's horror o$ war will not stop leaders $rom ma in!

18 war in the absence o$ political structure" Warma in! powers should reside in the le!islature, and executi%e authorit# to initiate and continue wars should be se%erel# contained" ;" *rotections $or the ri!hts o$ immi!rants" *atriotism alwa#s ris s %eerin! into xenophobia, and xenophobia o$ten ta es new immi!rant !roups as its tar!ets" In addition to protections $or minorities who alread# en,o# citi4ens' ri!hts, a puri$ied patriotism needs to be ad%anced in con,unction with $irm protections $or the ri!hts o$ le!al immi!rants who are not @or not #etB citi4ens, and decent arran!ements $or ille!al immi!rants" @0uch attitudes are also important props $or a commitment to assist people outside one's own nation. one becomes used to $ocusin! on human need and aspiration as important in themsel%es, not onl# because the people are one's $ellow citi4ens"B <" Education about $orei!n cultures and domestic minorities" *anic and xenophobia are alwa#s more di$$icult to sustain when schools do their ,ob well, ac(uaintin! people with complex historical $acts re!ardin! the !roups that the# will encounter" For example, i$ schools in Europe and the )" 0" were doin! their ,ob teachin! people about the %arieties o$ Islam, the current atmosphere o$ panic would be $ar more di$$icult to sustain" +5 =" & %i!orous critical culture" *erhaps the most important $actor o$ all is the one emphasi4ed b# Aant, in all o$ his wor s about the prospect o$ a peace$ul international communit#. protection o$ the $reedom o$ speech and dissent, and o$ the %oices o$ intellectuals who pla# leadin! roles in shapin! a critical public culture" /his critical culture needs to be $ostered in the schools $rom the earliest #ears, b# teachin! children that the abilit# to thin criticall# is one o$ the most essential abilities o$ the democratic citi4en, and that learnin! b# rote and thin in! b# habit are the mar s o$ the bad citi4en" /o the extent that a nation succeeds in buildin! such a culture, to that extent it has in e%er# town and re!ion built5in sa$e!uards a!ainst the excesses o$ patriotism run amo " Indeed, althou!h the )" 0" is %er# $ar $rom ha%in! as %i!orous a critical culture as it ou!ht to ha%e, m# stor# o$ the *led!e o$ &lle!iance owes its relati%el# happ# denouement to this $actor" &$ter the )" 0" 0upreme Court decision upholdin! the constitutionalit# o$ the laws mandatin! the
;9 0ee m# Culti%atin! -umanit#. & Classical 8e$ense o$ >e$orm in 3iberal Education @Cambrid!e, 2&.

-ar%ard )ni%ersit# *ress, 1991B"

19 dail# pled!e recitation and $la! salute+1 F notice that e%en the independent ,udiciar# was led astra# b# patriotic $er%or F there was a tremendous outburst o$ protest $rom the public, led b# ,ournalists and intellectuals, but ,oined b# people o$ !ood will all o%er the nation" /he Court reacted to the public criti(ue o$ its ar!uments b# hearin!, onl# a short time later, another similar case, ta in! that occasion to chan!e its mind" In +oard o$ Education %" +arnette, ?ustice ?ac son obser%ed that nationalism o$ten see s to "coerce uni$ormit# o$ sentiment," and insisted that we must be %i!ilant a!ainst all such attempts. "I$ there is an# $ixed star in our constitutional constellation, it is that no o$$icial, hi!h or pett#, can prescribe what shall be orthodox in politics, nationalism, reli!ion, or other matters o$ opinion or $orce citi4ens to con$ess b# word or act their $aith therein" I$ there are an# circumstances which permit an exception, the# do not now occur to us"" +) /he $act that these words could be uttered, in a ma,orit# 0upreme Court opinion, in the #ear 19<; shows the extent o$ the protections supplied b# the combination o$ constitutional ri!hts and an independent ,udiciar# with an acti%e and critical public"

4 Purified Patriotism in 6istor73 "incoln8 9ing8 Gandhi8 (ehru We must now turn to histor#"++ /here are countless examples o$ what I mi!ht call the 2iller5 6ussbaum thesis in histor#, that is, the thesis that moti%atin! bold pro,ects re(uirin! sacri$ice entails !eneratin! moral emotions directed at the nation and its histor#" 3et us loo at two %er# di$$erent cases. the attempt to end the in,ustice o$ sla%er# and racial discrimination in the )nited 0tates, and the attempt to $or!e a new Indian nation that would be dedicated to combatin! economic ine(ualit#" In each case I shall $ocus on political rhetoric F not because I do not belie%e that sculpture, music, the plannin! o$ public par s, and man# other thin!s are also %er# important, but simpl# because that is the easiest thin! to do in an essa#" +, In the case o$ 'andhi, howe%er,

;1 2iners%ille 0chool 8ist" %" 'obitis, ;19 )" 0" =9: @19<9B" ;2 +oard o$ Education %" +arnette, ;19 )" 0" :2< @19<;B" ;; /his section o$ the paper is closel# related to the ar!ument in the last section o$ ">adical E%il," which

does not, howe%er, $ocus on an idea o$ the nation7 its readin! o$ Ain! conse(uentl# emphasi4es di$$erent points" ;< In ">adical E%il," howe%er, I do discuss >oose%elt's use o$ public photo!raph# durin! the 6ew 8eal and the construction o$ 2illenium *ar in Chica!o"

29 some description o$ his sel$5dramati4ation and his use o$ theatre will pro%e essential, e%en i$ we ha%e no time to watch $ilms that illustrate these strate!ies" /he 'ett#sbur! &ddress @6o%ember 19, 18:;B is one o$ the de$inin! documents o$ education in the )nited 0tates" Children memori4e it, and learn $rom it the ideals to which the# ou!ht to be dedicated" Its bre%it#, thou!ht a dis!race at the time, has pro%en a !reat asset in $or!in! sentiments in !eneration a$ter !eneration" What I want to stud# now is the wa# in which a narrati%e o$ the 6ation, its past histor#, its $oundin! ideals, and its possible $uture, pla# a central role in 3incoln's attempt to ma e people willin! to continue to shoulder the emotional and ph#sical burdens o$ an extremel# pain$ul and doubt$ul war" -ere it is in its entiret#.
Four score and se%en #ears a!o our $athers brou!ht $orth on this continent, a new nation, concei%ed in 3ibert#, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created e(ual" 6ow we are en!a!ed in a !reat ci%il war, testin! whether that nation, or an# nation so concei%ed and so dedicated, can lon! endure" We are met on a !reat battle5$ield o$ that war" We ha%e come to dedicate a portion o$ that $ield, as a $inal restin! place $or those who here !a%e their li%es that that nation mi!ht li%e" It is alto!ether $ittin! and proper that we should do this" +ut, in a lar!er sense, we can not dedicate F we can not consecrate F we can not hallow F this !round" /he bra%e men, li%in! and dead, who stru!!led here, ha%e consecrated it, $ar abo%e our poor power to add or detract" /he world will little note, nor lon! remember what we sa# here, but it can ne%er $or!et what the# did here" It is $or us the li%in!, rather, to be dedicated here to the un$inished wor which the# who $ou!ht here ha%e thus $ar so nobl# ad%anced" It is rather $or us to be here dedicated to the !reat tas remainin! be$ore us F that $rom these honored dead we ta e increased de%otion to that cause $or which the# !a%e the last $ull measure o$ de%otion F that we here hi!hl# resol%e that these dead shall not ha%e died in %ain F that this nation, under 'od, shall ha%e a new birth o$ $reedom F and that !o%ernment o$ the people, b# the people, $or the people, shall not perish $rom the earth"

3incoln be!ins with memor#, with the mention o$ a number o$ #ears, remindin! people that the nation, so imperiled at present, had a be!innin!" It was "a new nation," with a distincti%e set o$ ideals $ocusin! on libert# and e(ualit#" 3incoln now obser%es that the present war tests whether an# nation o$ this sort "can lon! endure"" 0o, he positions the Ci%il War as a war o%er the deepest and most cherished ideals, and o%er their $ate in the entire world, not ,ust in &merica" 3incoln clearl# pro%ides an account o$ the ideals o$ the $oundin! that is interpreti%e in 8wor in's sense, not dwellin! on the preser%ation o$ sla%er# in the constitution, but $ocusin! on more !eneral ideals on which one can draw to repudiate sla%er#" *raisin! the sacri$ice o$ those who died @in a battle that was one o$ the war's bloodiestB, he then sa#s that the li%in! cannot hallow the !round. onl# the bra%er# o$ the $allen can do so" 3i%in!

21 people are thus led toward an attitude o$ re%erential emulation o$ the sacri$ice o$ the $allen" &nd then 3incoln $amousl# as s that dedication o$ them. we are all to be dedicated to the tas o$ preser%in! the &merican democrac#, and to !i%in! it "a new birth o$ $reedom"" -e ends on the note o$ ur!enc# he has sounded throu!hout. the stru!!le is reall# a stru!!le o%er whether democrac# itsel$ can exist" 3incoln's speech does indeed contain appeals to a constitutional patriotism that would ha%e pleased >awls and -abermas" +ut it does much more. in its %i%id in%ocation o$ the $oundin!, its heart$elt mournin! $or the $allen soldiers, its appeal to renewed commitment, it puts historical and contemporar# $lesh on these moral bones" 3incoln de%eloped this idea o$ the nation $urther in his 0econd Inau!ural &ddress, deli%ered on 2arch <, 18:=" 0ince it is a much len!thier speech than the 'ett#sbur! &ddress, I (uote onl# a $ew e# passa!es.
H"En the occasion correspondin! to this $our #ears a!o all thou!hts were anxiousl# directed to an impendin! ci%il war" &ll dreaded it, all sou!ht to a%ert it" While the inau!ural address was bein! deli%ered $rom this place, de%oted alto!ether to sa%in! the )nion without war, ur!ent a!ents were in the cit# see in! to destro# it without war F see in! to dissol%e the )nion and di%ide e$$ects b# ne!otiation" +oth parties deprecated war, but one o$ them would ma e war rather than let the nation sur%i%e, and the other would accept war rather than let it perish, and the war came" Ene ei!hth o$ the whole population were colored sla%es, not distributed !enerall# o%er the )nion, but locali4ed in the southern part o$ it" /hese sla%es constituted a peculiar and power$ul interest" &ll new that this interest was somehow the cause o$ the warH+oth read the same +ible and pra# to the same 'od, and each in%o es -is aid a!ainst the other" It ma# seem stran!e that an# men should dare to as a ,ust 'od's assistance in wrin!in! their bread $rom the sweat o$ other men's $aces, but let us ,ud!e not, that we be not ,ud!edH"With malice toward none, with charit# $or all, with $irmness in the ri!ht as 'od !i%es us to see the ri!ht, let us stri%e on to $inish the wor we are in, to bind up the nation's wounds, to care $or him who shall ha%e borne the battle and $or his widow and his orphan, to do all which ma# achie%e and cherish a ,ust and lastin! peace amon! oursel%es and with all nations"

/he 0econd Inau!ural is an interestin! -erderian document, because it care$ull# positions the )nion as the side that wanted and desperatel# tried to a%oid war" /he sur%i%al o$ the 6ation is the startin! point. the 0outh would rather ma e war rather than see it sur%i%e, and the 6orth was willin! to accept war rather than see it perish" /hus the two sides are as#mmetrical in their relationship to the 6ation. the secessionist stru!!le o$ the 0outh is portra#ed as a war o$ a!!ression a!ainst the bod# o$ the 6ation, and the )nion's response is portra#ed as a ,ust

22 response to a!!ression" /hus the speech does what -erder wanted, nurturin! a horror o$ war and a reluctance to ma e war" /he situation o$ the sla%es now enters the picture, and the $act that the 0outh is moti%ated b# !reed is emphasi4ed" En the one hand, then, we ha%e people moti%ated b# sel$5interest, who "wrin! their bread $rom the sweat o$ other men's $aces" and e%en as 'od to help them do it" En the other hand, those who would include the sla%es as human bein!s and citi4ens who count, one5ei!hth o$ the population" 0o the nation is now allied with respect and inclusion, the secessionist mo%ement with e!oism and $alse reli!ion" Finall#, howe%er, the speech appeals, $amousl#, to merc# and $or!i%eness, since the nation is wounded and its wounds must be "bound up"" 2erc# does not compromise "$irmness in the ri!ht," but it !i%es us a wa# o$ !oin! on to!ether into an uncertain $uture" Ence a!ain, this speech contains %er# admirable sentiments, but these are not simpl# the sentiments o$ a constitutional patriotism" /he speech's use o$ ima!e and narrati%e, its rh#thmic cadences o$ lan!ua!e, ma e the moral principles come ali%e, in wa#s that, once a!ain, can be and are easil# memori4ed b# children, $or!in! their deepest ima!es and, later, memories o$ what their nation is" 0aid to!ether in schools b# blac and white children to!ether, it reminds them o$ the histor# o$ pain and stru!!le, but also o$ the capacit# o$ respect, lo%e, and sheer endurance $or o%ercomin! pain" Ence a!ain, it constructs a patriotism that is interpreti%e, holdin! up !eneral ideals and usin! them to critici4e historical wron!s" /he speech ends, notice, on a stron!l# uni%ersalistic note. "to do all which ma# achie%e and cherish a ,ust and lastin! peace amon! oursel%es and with all nations"" /his comes easil#, because when nation is concei%ed around ideas o$ inclusion and human di!nit#, it can easil# lead on to a stru!!le $or these thin!s e%er#where" /hose, indeed, are the terms o$ a ,ust and lastin! peace" /he Emancipation *roclamation was si!ned in 18:;" Ene hundred #ears later, its promise was not $ul$illed" 2artin 3uther Ain!'s !reat "I -a%e a 8ream" speech, deli%ered in Washin!ton, 8" C" on &u!ust 28, 19:;, is another o$ the most $ormati%e documents o$ &merican education, and all #oun! &mericans ha%e heard it thousands o$ times, recited in the mo%in! cadences o$

2; Ain!'s extraordinar# %oice" 6obod# could doubt that it is a masterpiece o$ rhetoric, and that its achie%ements !o well be#ond the abstract sentiments that it con%e#s" Its soarin! ima!es o$ $reedom and re%elation, its musical cadences, all !i%e the bare ideas o$ $reedom, di!nit#, inclusion, and non5%iolence win!s, so to spea "+- What I want now to stud# more closel# here is the wa# in which Ain! appeals to the histor# and traditions o$ the nation, and to sentiments connected to an idea o$ &merica that is, once a!ain, interpreti%e, brin!in! $orward %aluable !eneral ideals and usin! them to critici4e an un,ust realit#" We need to examine rather extensi%e extracts $rom the speech, in order to stud# its use o$ an interpreti%e idea o$ the nation.
Fi%e score #ears a!o, a !reat &merican, in whose s#mbolic shadow we stand toda#, si!ned the Emancipation *roclamation" /his momentous decree came as a !reat beacon li!ht o$ hope to millions o$ 6e!ro sla%es who had been seared in the $lames o$ witherin! in,usticeH +ut one hundred #ears later, the 6e!ro still is not $ree" Ene hundred #ears later, the li$e o$ the 6e!ro is still sadl# crippled b# the manacles o$ se!re!ation and the chains o$ discriminationH&nd so we'%e come here toda# to dramati4e a shame$ul condition" In a sense we'%e come to our nation's capital to cash a chec " When the architects o$ our republic wrote the ma!ni$icent words o$ the Constitution and the 8eclaration o$ Independenced, the# were si!nin! a promissor# note to which e%er# &merican was to $all heir" /his note was a promise that all men, #es, blac men as well as white men, would be !uaranteed the "inalienable >i!hts" o$ "3i$e, 3ibert# and the pursuit o$ -appiness"" It is ob%ious toda# that &merica has de$aulted on this promissor# note, inso$ar as her citi4ens o$ color are concerned" Instead o$ honorin! this sacred obli!ation, &merica has !i%en the 6e!ro people a bad chec , a chec which has come bac mar ed "insu$$icient $unds"" +ut we re$use to belie%e that the ban o$ ,ustice is ban rupt" We re$use to belie%e that there are insu$$icient $unds in the !reat %aults o$ opportunit# o$ this nationH" +ut there is somethin! that I must sa# to m# people, who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace o$ ,ustice. In the process o$ !ainin! our ri!ht$ul place, we must not be !uilt# o$ wron!$ul deeds" 3et us not see to satis$# our thirst $or $reedom b# drin in! $rom the cup o$ bitterness and hatred" We must $ore%er conduct our stru!!le on the hi!h plane o$ di!nit# and discipline" We must not allow our creati%e protest to de!enerate into ph#sical %iolence" &!ain and a!ain, we must rise to the ma,estic hei!hts o$ meetin! ph#sical $orce with soul $orceH" Ja$ter the prophetic "I ha%e a dream" sectionsK. &nd this will be the da# F this will be the da# when all o$ 'od's children will be able to sin! with new meanin!. 2# countr# 'tis o$ thee, sweet land o$ libert#, o$ thee I sin!" 3and where m# $athers died, land o$ the *il!rim's pride, From e%er# mountainside, let $reedom rin!D &nd i$ &merica is to be a !reat nation, this must become true" &nd so let $reedom rin! $rom the prodi!ious hilltops o$ 6ew -ampshire" 3et Freedom rin! $rom the mi!ht# mountains o$ 6ew Cor " 3et $reedom rin! $rom the hei!htenin! &lle!henies o$ *enns#l%ania"
;= I stud# these aspects o$ the speech in ">adical E%il in the 3oc ean 0tate

2<
3et $reedom rin! $rom the snow5capped >oc ies o$ Colorado" 3et $reedom rin! $rom the cur%aceous slopes o$ Cali$ornia" +ut not onl# that. 3et $reedom rin! $rom 0tone 2ountain o$ 'eor!ia" 3et $reedom rin! $rom 3oo out 2ountain o$ /ennessee" 3et $reedom rin! $rom e%er# hill and molehill o$ 2ississippi" From e%er# mountainside, let $reedom rin!" &nd when this happens, when we allow $reedom to rin!, when we let it rin! $rom e%er# %illa!e and e%er# hamlet, $rom e%er# state and e%er# cit#, we will be able to speed up that da# when all o$ 'od's children, blac men and white men, ?ews and 'entiles, *rotestants and Catholics, will be able to ,oin hands and sin! in the words o$ the old 6e!ro spiritual. Free at lastD Free at lastD /han 'od &lmi!ht#, we are $ree at lastD

/he speech be!ins with an allusion to the 'ett#sbur! &ddress, positionin! itsel$ as its next chapter, so to spea " ?ust as 3incoln loo ed bac to the Foundin! as a moment o$ commitment to ideals that he sees as !ra%el# threatened, so Ain! loo s bac to 3incoln's $reein! o$ the sla%es as a moment o$ commitment whose promise is still unreali4ed" -e uses a %er# mundane, and %er# &merican ima!e $or that $ailure. the nation has !i%en the 6e!ro people a bad chec that has come bac mar ed "insu$$icient $unds"" /his insistent appeal to $iscal rectitude is also a wa# o$ alludin! to &merica, since &mericans so lo%e to thin o$ themsel%es as characteri4ed b# that %irtue" /hrou!hout the speech, Ain! sounds a note o$ ur!enc#. the "swelterin! summer o$ the 6e!ro's le!itimate discontent" means that there will be no peace in &merica until ,ustice is done" +ut he also culti%ates in his $ollowers a puri$ied patriotism. the# must, in 'andhian $ashion, attain moral superiorit# b# $or!oin! %iolent deeds" 3i e 'andhi, he ma es non5%iolence seem hi!h, "ma,estic," and %iolence loo sordid" &nd he also, li e 3incoln, appeals to trust between the races, remindin! his $ollowers that man# white people are present and ha%e ,oined the stru!!le $or ,ustice" "We cannot wal alone"" +# culti%atin! hope and trust, alon! with le!itimate an!er, he de$uses the ur!e to %iolence" Ence a!ain, then, this is -erderian puri$ied patriotism, based on a stron! deni!ration o$ %iolence and a re$usal to bow down be$ore $alse idols o$ a!!ressi%e masculinit#"

2= /he %isionar# "I ha%e a dream" section o$ the speech, so well nown, is central to its construction o$ an ima!e o$ a puri$ied nation, in which all ma# ,oin to!ether on terms o$ e(ualit#" +ut then, immediatel# $ollowin! upon this %ision o$ a new &merica, Ain! returns to national memor# and national tradition, b# (uotin! in $ull the $amous son! "&merica," or "2# Countr# /is o$ /hee"" Ier# si!ni$icantl#, he now sa#s, "&nd i$ &merica is to be a !reat nation, this must become true"" In other words, the son!, which people usuall# sin! complacentl#, as the account o$ a realit#, is itsel$ prophec#, and its words o$ $reedom must be made true b# committed action $or ,ustice" /he next section o$ the speech can best be described in the lan!ua!e o$ ,a44, as a series o$ ri$$s on the son!, as $reedom is as ed to rin! $rom a series o$ re!ions o$ &merica" What is !oin! on hereG 0e%eral %er# interestin! thin!s, I thin " First, the ima!e o$ &merica is bein! made concrete and ph#sical b# bein! lin ed to well5 nown $eatures o$ !eo!raph#" 0econd, !eo!raph# itsel$ is bein! morali4ed. the mountains o$ 6ew Cor are now not ,ust mountains, the# are sites o$ $reedom" /hird, the bod# o$ the nation is bein! personi$ied in a sensuous, indeed sex#, wa#. the "hei!htenin! &lle!henies," the "cur%aceous slopes"" @/hus the in%itations to dis!ust so ubi(uitous in mali!n patriotism are replaced b# an embrace o$ the sensuous reminiscent o$ Walt Whitman"B +ut also. the end o$ the Ci%il War is $inall# at hand, as $reedom is as ed to rin! $rom a series o$ sites in the 0outh" In a wa# reminiscent o$ the 0econd Inau!ural, Ain! expresses malice toward none and charit# toward all" /he note o$ sl# humor, as he !ets in his di! at 2ississippi @"let $reedom rin! $rom e%er# hill and e%er# molehill o$ 2ississippi"B is a reminder that bad beha%ior has not been $or!otten F it has, howe%er, been au$!ehoben into a sur!e o$ ,o# whose ob,ect is the puri$ied nation" 3i e 3incoln's speech, Ain!'s ends on a !lobal note. the %ictor# o$ inte!ration in &merica will "speed up that da# when all o$ 'od's children" will en,o# $reedom" /hus puri$ied patriotism melds naturall# into a stri%in! $or !lobal ,ustice and an inclusi%e human lo%e"

3et us now turn to India" /his case is di$$erent $rom the case o$ the )nited 0tates because it concerns the $oundin! o$ a nation" /here are in that sense no canonical documents or

2: traditions, no memories o$ lon! past stru!!les, that can command the a!reement and the sentiments o$ all" Indeed to this da# a stru!!le continues o%er the proper ima!e o$ the nation and its histor#, as partisans o$ the -indu ri!ht endea%or to characteri4e that histor# as one o$ indi!enous -indu peace and alien domination, $irst b# 2uslims and then b# Christians" +. 'andhi and 6ehru, settin! out to $or!e the ima!e o$ a pluralistic India, united b# commitment to a trul# shared histor# o$ stru!!le $or sel$5rule and b# a shared commitment to the nation's people, had an uphill battle, since colonial oppression bred in man# a stron! desire to per$orm deeds o$ manl# a!!ression, counterin! percei%ed humiliation with tou!h5!u# domination" /heir stru!!le in%ol%ed, then, not ,ust a set o$ ideals that were contro%erted b# other more exclusionar# ideals, but a conception o$ true manliness and trul# stron! patriotism that was contro%erted b# a more warli e $orm o$ patriotism" /his stru!!le is neatl# exempli$ied b# the stru!!le, which is on!oin!, o%er which o$ two son!s should be the national anthem o$ India" /he actual national anthem o$ India, "?ana 'ana 2ana," was written @both words and musicB b# poet, no%elist, and theorist o$ !lobal ,ustice >abindranath /a!ore, a determined critic o$ most existin! $orms o$ nationalism and patriotism" +/ Its addressee is an immortal spirit o$ ri!hteousness, e(ui%alent to the moral law.
/hou art the ruler o$ the minds o$ all people, 8ispenser o$ IndiaLs destin#" /h# name rouses the hearts o$ the *un,ab, 0indhu, 'u,arat, and 2aratha" E$ the 8ra%id, and Erissa and +en!al" It echoes in the hills o$ Iindh#as and -imala#as, min!les in the music o$ the ?amuna and 'an!a and is chanted b# /he wa%es o$ the Indian sea" /he# pra# $or th# blessin!s and sin! th# praise, /he sa%in! o$ all people waits in th# hand, /hou dispenser o$ IndiaLs destin#" Iictor#, %ictor#, %ictor# to thee"

/he /a!ore anthem puts beauti$ul sensuous poetr# and music underneath inclusi%e and e!alitarian moral sentiment" Its notion o$ %ictor# is a moral, not a warli e, notion" Compare the anthem pre$erred b# the -indu >i!ht, nown as "+ande 2ataram," @"-ail 2otherland"B, ta en
;: 0ee m# /he Clash Within, chapters = and :" ;1 0ee /a!ore, 6ationalism, lectures deli%ered in 1911" "?ana 'ana 2ana" was not written as, the national

anthem7 it was written much earlier, as /a!ore's $orm o$ indirect protest a!ainst the %isit o$ 'eor!e I to India" What he was basicall# doin! is to state that India's di%erse citi4ens owe their ultimatel# lo#alt# not to the colonial ruler, but to the moral law" I discuss the anthem's histor# in /he Clash, Introduction"

21 $rom a no%el b# the nineteenth5centur# +en!ali no%elist, and earl# nationalist, +an imchandra Chatter,ee"+0 I cite it in the well5 nown translation b# philosopher 0ri &urobindo.
2other, I bow to theeD >ich with th# hurr#in! streams, +ri!ht with th# orchard !leams, Cool with th# winds o$ deli!ht, 8ar $ields wa%in!, 2other o$ mi!ht, 2other $ree" 'lor# o$ moonli!ht dreams E%er th# branches and lordl# streams, Clad in th# blossomin! trees, 2other, !i%er o$ ease" 3au!hin! low and sweetD 2other, I iss th# $eet, 0pea er sweet and lowD 2other, to thee I bow" Who hath said thou are wea in th# lands, When the swords $lash out in twice se%ent# million hands &nd se%ent# millions %oices roar /h# dread$ul name $rom shore to shoreG H /hou art wisdom, thou art law, /hou our heart, our soul, our breath, /hou the lo%e di%ine, the awe In our hearts that con(uers death"

/he Chatter,ee anthem, still championed b# the -indu ri!ht, culti%ates an attitude o$ uncritical reli!ious de%otion to the motherland, which is portra#ed in exclusionar# -indu terms as a ran!e o$ -indu !oddesses" @/hus the not5too5subtle su!!estion is that India is a -indu nation, in which 2uslims will alwa#s be outsiders"B It also culti%ates a!!ression a!ainst the $oes o$ the nation" /hus we ma# see the debate about the national anthem as a debate between the $orm o$ patriotism -erder loathed and a $orm that would ha%e been %er# con!enial to him" /here is a parallel debate about the Indian $la!" /he existin! $la! has at its center the wheel o$ law, a s#mbol associated with the +uddhist emperor &sho a, who $ostered reli!ious toleration" It is, then a s#mbol o$ reli!ious inclusi%eness, non%iolence, and the supremac# o$ law" /he $la! pre$erred b# the -indu ri!ht is the sa$$ron banner o$ the ei!hteenth5centur# 2aharashtrian hero 0hi%a,i, who conducted a brie$l# success$ul rebellion a!ainst 2uslim rule" It is an a!!ressi%e and
;8 Chatter,ee is one o$ the tar!ets o$ /a!ore's mordant criti(ue o$ warli e nationalism, in his 191: no%el

'hare +aire, or /he -ome and the World" Its hero, who $a%ors an inclusi%e conception o$ citi4enship based upon ,ustice, declares himsel$ unable to understand the spirit o$ "+ande 2ataram""

28 exclusionar# s#mbol, a s#mbol that sa#s that -indus will stri e bac a!ainst centuries o$ humiliation and sei4e power $or themsel%es, subordinatin! others" /here was no more cann# creator o$ puri$ied patriotism than 2ohandas 'andhi, so we must now turn to his career, in order to understand India's s#mbolic stru!!les o%er patriotism" 'andhi wrote copiousl#, but his success in $or!in! a puri$ied patriotism $or the new nation, a %ast ma,orit# o$ whose inhabitants could not read and write, owes little to his writin!s" What 'andhi brilliantl# did was to ma e his own bod# a li%in! s#mbol o$ a @puri$ied conception o$ theB nation" In eepin! with his idea that the essential site o$ national stru!!le is inside each person, a stru!!le to con(uer !reed and anxious desires $or domination o$ others, he portra#ed himsel$ as someone whose entire li$e $ocused on that stru!!le a!ainst !reed# desire" -e did not $ashion himsel$ in a %acuum. he relied hea%il# on traditional -indu ima!es o$ the ascetic sann#asi, and he there$ore had to be %er# care$ul lest his ima!e o$ the nation seem -indu in an exclusionar# wa#" -e there$ore throu!hout his li$e too care to put 2uslims in central positions in his $reedom mo%ement and to turn to them at what we mi!ht call e# ritual moments" /hus, his $amous $ast unto death in 19<1 was bro en when he turned to 2aulana &4ad, a 2uslim cleric and Con!ress part# leader, as in! him $or some oran!e ,uice and some bread" -e thus bro e totall# with traditional -indu ideas o$ purit#, which were exclusionar# alon! lines o$ both caste and reli!ion" Wieldin! the enormous power o$ traditional asceticism, he at the same time di%erted it to an utterl# new cause" &t the same time, 'andhi constructed his bod# as a s#mbol o$ unit# across lines o$ wealth and caste" I$ one examines the chan!e in his ph#sical appearance between the earl# da#s in 0outh &$rica and the hei!ht o$ his in$luence in India, what one sees is a deliberatel# culti%ated solidarit# with the lowest and poorest, into which the $orce o$ his moral authorit# also led the elites around him" /o see an elite Aashmiri +rahmin such as ?awaharlal 6ehru spinnin! his own thread, or marr#in! his dau!hter Indira in a homespun sari, is to see the ma!nitude o$ the trans$ormation 'andhi was able to accomplish" -is hal$5na ed persona, draped onl# in a loincloth and propped up b# a wal in! stic , etched itsel$ indelibl# into the mind o$ the nation, and the world"

29 &t the same time, 'andhi constructed puri$ied patriotism throu!h his theater o$ ci%il resistance" +oth supremel# moral and supremel# strate!ic, 'andhi new that when the e#es o$ the world were on India, di!ni$ied non5%iolent beha%ior both seemed and was both stron! and sel$5!o%ernin!, and that +ritish thu!!ishness seemed and was pun# and u!l# b# contrast" -e new how to theatricali4e the moral superiorit# o$ the India cause F $or example b# arran!in! episodes o$ ci%il resistance that would surel# lead to countless Indians !ettin! beaten up b# +ritish soldiers whose %iolence loo ed increasin!l# desperate and small" In the process, he made both his $ollowers and countless others see manliness in a new wa#. the bod# that stood with di!nit#, ta in! blows, loo ed stron! and proud" /he bod# that ept dishin! out the blows loo ed utterl# at sea, hopelessl# wea , not able to touch what it was tr#in! to control" 'andhian patriotism as ed a lot o$ people" It as ed the rich to li%e in solidarit# with the poor and to ma e hu!e sacri$ices o$ personal com$ort" It as ed all men to adopt a new t#pe o$ non5%iolent manliness that entailed a !reat deal o$ sacri$ice, since re%en!e is pleasant" Enl# the use o$ s#mbols, 'andhi repeatedl# said, could succeed in ma in! people willin! to ta e on these di$$icult tas s" Fortunatel#, he was a brilliant $or!er o$ s#mbols, s#mbols that mo%ed because the# were old and #et included because the# were utterl# new" &nd, to return to a sub5theme, he was also a brilliant wielder o$ humor, who $ound wa#s to include throu!h a ind o$ lo%in! childli e pla#" /hus, a common reaction to meetin! him was to be surprised that he was not $orbiddin!l# austere or saintl#, but puc ish and deli!ht$ul" +ecause 'andhi was so charismatic, his crusade on behal$ o$ puri$ied patriotism disabled the stru!!le o$ the -indu ri!ht in $a%or o$ the other sort o$ patriotism" 'andhi's assassin, 6athuram 'odse, ,usti$ied his assassination $or posterit# in the name o$ a @correctB lo%e o$ countr#" /oward the end o$ his 1=95pa!e speech o$ sel$5,usti$ication, at his sentencin! hearin! in 19<8, is the $ollowin! passa!e, which now heads a -indu5>i!ht website dedicated to his memor#.
I$ de%otion to oneLs countr# amounts to a sin, I admit I ha%e committed that sin" I$ it is meritorious, I humbl# claim the merit thereo$" I $ull# and con$identl# belie%e that i$ there be an# other court o$ ,ustice be#ond the one $ounded b# the mortals, m# act will not be ta en as un,ust" I$ a$ter the death there be no such place to reach or to !o, there is nothin! to be said" I ha%e resorted to the action I did purel# $or the bene$it o$ the humanit#" I do sa# that m# shots were $ired at the person whose polic# and action had brou!ht rac and ruin and destruction to la hs Jtens o$ thousandsK o$ -indus"

;9 'odse's de%otion to %iolent a!!ression was so consistent that he re$used to allow his li$e to be spared7 he said that he wanted to show that with him 'andhi's non5%iolence was bein! han!ed" /o this da#, the -indu ri!ht cherish this "heroic" example o$ a patriotism dedicated to warli e a!!ression" 'andhi's %ersion o$ patriotism, howe%er, is the one that won out, enshrined in India's constitution and in the $oundin! principles laid down in ?awaharlal 6ehru's $amous speech on the ni!ht o$ India's independence" /he speech is #et another example o$ the public construction o$ a puri$ied patriotism, dedicated to human inclusi%eness and e(ualit#, and to the meetin! o$ essential human needs $or all people near and $ar" Ima!inin! Indian citi4ens not as a!!ressi%e warriors, but as mothers laborin! to brin! $orth a new and ,ust nation, 6ehru drew a sentiment5 map that lin ed proper patriotism to a uni%ersal commitment to ,ustice and to the eradication o$ all human miser#.
3on! #ears a!o we made a tr#st with destin#, and now the time comes when we shall redeem our pled!e, not wholl# or in $ull measure, but %er# substantiall#" &t the stro e o$ the midni!ht hour, when the world sleeps, India will awa e to li$e and $reedomHIt is $ittin! that at this solemn moment, we ta e the pled!e o$ dedication to the ser%ice o$ India and her people and to the still lar!er cause o$ humanit#H H+e$ore the birth o$ $reedom, we ha%e endured all the pains o$ labour and our hearts are hea%# with the memor# o$ this sorrow" 0ome o$ those pains continue e%en now" 6e%ertheless, the past is o%er and it is the $uture that bec ons us now" /hat $uture is not one o$ ease or restin! but o$ incessant stri%in! so that we ma# $ul$ill the pled!es we ha%e so o$ten ta en and the one we shall ta e toda#" /he ser%ice o$ India means, the ser%ice o$ the millions who su$$er" It means the endin! o$ po%ert# and i!norance and disease and ine(ualit# o$ opportunit#" /he ambition o$ the !reatest man o$ our !eneration has been to wipe e%er# tear $rom e%er# e#e" /hat ma# be be#ond us, but as lon! as there are tears and su$$erin!, so lon! our wor will not be o%er" &nd so we ha%e to labour and to wor , and to wor hard, to !i%e realit# to our dreams" /hose dreams are $or India, but the# are also $or the world, $or all the nations and peoples are too closel# nit to!ether toda# $or an# one o$ them to ima!ine that it can li%e apart" *eace is said to be indi%isible, so is $reedom, so is prosperit# now, and also is disaster in this one world that can no lon!er be split into isolated $ra!mentsH"

For the idea o$ an a!!ressi%e warli e India, so cherished b# man# o$ his countr#men, 6ehru substitutes the idea o$ an India at wor , characteri4ed b# incessant labor and stri%in! toward the !oal o$ eradicatin! human su$$erin! F not onl# in India, but e%er#where" )n$ortunatel#, in toda#'s India, patriotism shows her ?anus5$aced nature" /he -indu ri!ht, buildin! on sentiments o$ ethnic homo!eneit#, has created a climate o$ %iolence and $ear $or minorities" &lthou!h the 'andhi56ehru %ision in some wa#s pre%ailed in the 299< elections, it is

;1 han!in! on b# its teeth, and still $aces stron! opposition $rom the mali!n patriotism o$ +ande 2ataram" 2eanwhile, a new technolo!ical middle class $ocuses on the patriotism o$ national enrichment, repudiatin! the 6ehru%ian ideas o$ stri%in! and o$ solidarit# with the poor" En the other hand, the $act that India is a thri%in! democrac# and *a istan is not, the $act that Indian elites still re!ard the poor as their e(uals and $ellow citi4ens whereas in *a istan this is $ar less true, owes a !reat deal to the wa# in which 6ehru, in %i%id rhetoric, promul!ated a %ision o$ the nation as a nation o$ e(uals, dedicated to e(ualit# o$ opportunit# $or all"

Eb%iousl#, then, patriotism in and o$ itsel$ is not a !ood thin!, and %er# o$ten indeed it is a %er# bad thin!" What I ha%e ar!ued, howe%er, is that a nation that pursues !oals that re(uire sacri$ice o$ sel$5interest needs to be able to appeal to it, in wa#s that draw on s#mbol and rhetoric, emotional memor# and histor# 55 as 3incoln, Ain!, 'andhi, and 6ehru all success$ull# did" /his is all the more true when a nation pursues not onl# internal ,ustice but the !oal o$ !lobal ,ustice as well" I$ people interested in economic e(ualit#, ,ustice $or minorities, and !lobal ,ustice eschew s#mbol and rhetoric, $earin! all appeals to emotion and ima!ination as inherentl# dan!erous and irrational, the ri!ht will monopoli4e these $orces, to the detriment o$ democrac#" /he emotions can be %er# bad" /he# are, howe%er, an essential part o$ human li$e, includin! the stru!!le $or ,ustice7 so we should tr# to ima!ine how the# can become the best that the# can be"

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