Nationalism in Latin America

Abstract

Latin-American nationalism is following a new path because of the speed of change now made possible by mass communications, new technologies, and contemporary ideologies. The Latin-American republics are relatively poor in nationalistic symbols and are at very different levels of na tional consciousness. Nationalistic ideologies, however, both extremist and gradualist, are found everywhere, though their social impact varies widely. The use of standard economic and demographic statistics affords us a hint of the extent of the presence of the conditions correlative to the growth of nation- states, but such other knowledge as can come to us from his torical, case, and attitude analyses is necessary before we can predict adequately. In any event, certain Latin-American countries—especially Argentina, Uruguay, Chile, and Costa Rica—appear sufficiently advanced socially and economically to be stable nation-states. That they have not yet reached such consolidation must be attributed partially to cultural fac tors. A level of intermediate loyalty to fellow citizen and to state is impeded by undiscriminating universalistic ideas and by an unwillingness to accept the nation as a social artifact rather than as a manifestation of evil or as a mystical good in itself.