Nations are natural cultural communities

The argument

Nations are long-existing communities of people whose unity has been sustained by a shared cultural heritage. This heritage might include language, religion, myths and legends, cultural artefacts and value systems. Modern ethno-symbolist theory sees cultural unity as being based on a common set of inherited myths and symbols. These form the basis of a common set of beliefs and values about the world and shared reference point for all members of the cultural community. Nations are merely a modern expression of this ancient sense of cultural community.

Context

Originating with Herder is the idea that mankind is divided into a variety of distinct incommensurable cultural communities. The idea has proved very influential and to this day many assume nations are, and should be, based on cultural unity.

Premises

Counter-arguments

Many modern nations contain a variety of different cultural groups and are nations nonetheless. Those nations which are culturally homogeneous only became so thanks to sustained political and governmental action to promote a particular national culture. Evidence of pre-modern cultural homogeneity is very thin.

Rejecting the premises

[Rejecting P1] Many modern nations are not culturally homogeneous so cannot be said to be built on cultural unity. [Rejecting P2] National homogeneity is rarely natural.