Elites , Nationalism and Nation - States

Nationalism creates and recreates a sense of distinctive identity and autonomy based on the Enlightenment idea of human freedom that enables people to survive in a modern world in which unpredictable change has become the norm. While, in the medieval world, the feudal states invoked religion and cultural resources to make people servile, the modern state invokes identity in a language of serving people in order to help them attain freedom and happiness. However, the modern states end up in leveraging the dominant sections of the society because the privileged sections of a community cleverly use identity to foster their socio-economic interests by camouflaging private interests under the cover of the Enlightenment ideas of equality, liberty and justice and welfare of the masses.