Comparative Nationalism: Imperial Legacies and the Strength of Nationalism: The Case of China and India since the 1990s

Abstract

Since the 1990s, there have been strong displays of nationalism in China, while in India the once dominant ‘secular’ nationalism has been challenged by a fragmentation of national identity along ethno--‐religious lines. This thesis seeks to explain why Chinese nationalism, since the 1990s, appears to be stronger and indeed more prevalent than nationalism in India. The phenomenon of nationalism in India and China has been extensively researched, yet there remains a deficiency in comparative research. Thereby, this thesis takes a historical Comparative approach through which five explanatory hypotheses are evaluated; these are entitled: direct rule, types of foreign rule, regime type, foreign threat, and diversity. The findings of this thesis suggest that China’s nationalism remains more prevalent since the 1990s, due to its experience of informal imperialism, a strong centralized Chinese state, and higher levels of militarized inter--‐state disputes. Simply, it is illustrated that because the experience of informal imperialism has centrally defined Chinese nationalism, it reacts Intensely to foreign threats that are equated to imperial acts, while the unified nature of nationalism is reinforced by a strong centralized state.