--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It is nationalism which engenders…" description: "\"It is nationalism which engenders nations, and not the other way round.\" — Ernest Gellner" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a36/ernest-gellner-25655_nationalism_it-is-nationalism-which-engenders-nation_1040770.jpg" --- # It is nationalism which engenders nations, and not the… ![“It is nationalism which engenders nations, and not the other way round.” quote by Ernest Gellner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a36/ernest-gellner-25655_nationalism_it-is-nationalism-which-engenders-nation_1040770.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a36/ernest-gellner-25655_nationalism_it-is-nationalism-which-engenders-nation_1040770.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a36/ernest-gellner-25655_nationalism_it-is-nationalism-which-engenders-nation_1040770.jpg) > “It is nationalism which engenders nations, and not the other way round.” [Ernest Gellner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-gellner/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Nationalism creates the idea of nations, not the other way around; identity is constructed by ideology. **In simple terms:** Nationalism builds nations. Key Takeaway Recognize ideas shape identity. Themes nationalism identity politics construction ideology Mood analytical critical Type political philosophical When to use this quote - policy making - education - media discourse - community building Key Concepts social theory political philosophy Questions to Reflect On - What role do shared histories play? - Can nationalism be both constructive and destructive? 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That which one would insinuate, thereof one must speak.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-gellner/philosophy-is-explicitness-generality-orientation-and-assessment-that/) [Ernest Gellner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-gellner/) > [Nationalism is not the awakening of nations to self-consciousness; it invents nations where they do not exist...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-gellner/nationalism-is-not-the-awakening-of-nations-to-self-consciousness-it/) [Ernest Gellner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-gellner/) > [Academic environments are generally characterised by the presence of peole who claim to understand more than in fact they do. 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The Family is the proper Province for Private Women to Shine in. If they must be showing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-addison/female-virtues-are-of-a-domestick-turn-the-family-is-the-proper/) [Joseph Addison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-addison/) > [“Home is not just walls and a roof; it is where the heart finds love and peace, and where memories take root, grounding us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bhuwan-thapaliya/home-is-not-just-walls-and-a-roof-it-is-where-the-heart-finds-love/) [Bhuwan Thapaliya](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bhuwan-thapaliya/) > [Nothing better protects a human being against the stupidity of prejudice, racism, religious or political sectarianism, and exclusivist nationalism than this truth that invariably…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mario-vargas-llosa/nothing-better-protects-a-human-being-against-the-stupidity-of/) [Mario Vargas Llosa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mario-vargas-llosa/) > [ The very nature of economics is rooted in nationalism. ... It \[was\] developed ... in the hope of throwing light upon questions of policy.… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-robinson/the-very-nature-of-economics-is-rooted-in-nationalism-it-was/) [Joan Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-robinson/) > [“Internationalism is in any case hostile to democracy….The only purely popular government is local, and founded on local knowledge. The citizens can rule the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-k-chesterton/internationalism-is-in-any-case-hostile-to-democracy-the-only-purely/) [G.K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-k-chesterton/) > [There is Ontario patriotism, Quebec patriotism, or Western patriotism; each based on the hope that it may swallow up the others, but there is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-bourassa/there-is-ontario-patriotism-quebec-patriotism-or-western-patriotism/) [Henri Bourassa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henri-bourassa/) > [There is no flag large enough to cover the shame of killing innocent people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-zinn/there-is-no-flag-large-enough-to-cover-the-shame-of-killing-innocent/) [Howard Zinn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-zinn/) > [Traditional nationalism cannot survive the fissioning of the atom. One world or none.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stuart-chase/traditional-nationalism-cannot-survive-the-fissioning-of-the-atom-one/) [Stuart Chase](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stuart-chase/) > [The wedding of Christianity or Judaism with nationalism is lethal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-miller/the-wedding-of-christianity-or-judaism-with-nationalism-is-lethal/) [Arthur Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-miller/) [Browse all 842 Nationalism quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nationalism/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "It is nationalism which engenders nations, and not the other way round.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Ernest Gellner" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-gellner/it-is-nationalism-which-engenders-nations-and-not-the-other-way-round/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Nationalism" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-gellner/it-is-nationalism-which-engenders-nations-and-not-the-other-way-round/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a36/ernest-gellner-25655_nationalism_it-is-nationalism-which-engenders-nation_1040770.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a36/ernest-gellner-25655_nationalism_it-is-nationalism-which-engenders-nation_1040770.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a36/ernest-gellner-25655_nationalism_it-is-nationalism-which-engenders-nation_1040770.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“It is nationalism which engenders nations, and not the other way round.” — Ernest Gellner", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Ernest Gellner", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-gellner/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "It is nationalism which engenders nations,...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-gellner/it-is-nationalism-which-engenders-nations-and-not-the-other-way-round/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-gellner/it-is-nationalism-which-engenders-nations-and-not-the-other-way-round/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```