The Duality of Patriotism

• Published in: Peace review (Palo Alto, Calif.) Calif.), 2003-12, Vol.15 (4), p.419-426
• Main Authors: Shin, Hwa-Ji, Schwartz, Michael
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Asian people; Cultural identity; Globalization; History; Minority & ethnic groups; National Identity; Patriotism
• ISSN: 1040-2659; 1469-9982
• DOI: 10.1080/1040265032000156672

The semantics of patriotism change across time and place. In seventeenth-century Britain, "patriots" referred to those who opposed the court or the king. In eighteenth-century America, "patriots" were those who battled against colonial Britain. In nineteenth-century America, they were partisans of either side in the Civil War. And in twentieth-century America, patriots were those who fervently supported the government in its foreign wars, most comfortably in World War II, less comfortably in World War I and Korea, and uncomfortably in Vietnam. In twenty-first-century American society, we wonder, "Who are today's patriots?" Are patriots those who are for or against the governmental policies toward Iraq, or is it possible for those on both sides to be considered patriotic? We cannot answer this question definitively, because the struggles that will determine that answer have yet to be completed. Instead, we seek to identify the key dynamics that will shape the coming struggle, and thus deepen our understanding of how patriotism has been formed and transformed in modern societies. To help this endeavor, we exploit the rich history of Japanese nationalism and the under-analyzed relationship of the Korean minority in Japan to the waves of patriotism that have been central to that nationalism.