Nations Beyond Interests. Emotional and Cognitive Motives in the Development of National Identities

Abstract In mainstream academic discourse, the emergence of national identities has mostly been explained from a powerful modernist approach, claiming that nations, as we know them today, are modern and constructed phenomena. This implies spotlight research on interest-based homogenization motives how they can create mass loyalty an efficient sociocultural basis for political elites capitalist markets. Nevertheless, attention might be slightly diverted possible emotional cognitive identities. According to conceptualization in this paper, paired with these intellectual motives, together constituting generally relevant tripartite concept self-identification, where emotionality revealed through “irrational” separatist feature nationalisms, while embodied expectations towards nations offer intellectually defendable meaningful explanations about collective origin “our” place within world. Without questioning significance means-end rationality behind processes, all points rather interrelated entanglement development attitude “belonging nation” is fueled not solely by interest, but (“separatist”) cognitive-intellectual (“historizing”) alike. As result, establish conceptual framework, stressing primacy any instead focusing ways which need collude cultural boundary-making (separatism) well coherent state affairs (historicism).