Power and Epistemology: How the Western Idea of “Nation” Triumphed Over Its Indigenous Counterparts

Abstract

The Peace of Westphalia and the French Revolution are two constitutive moments of the modern idea of “nation”. The modern idea of nation is linked with the idea of statehood. This idea spread throughout Europe and became dominant worldwide during the heydays of European colonialism. International law, shaped by Western powers, endorsed the idea and imposed it upon the rest of the world. While nations not claiming statehood existed before the European age of nationalism, and thousands of them still exist today in the form of “nations-within,” most independent states do not recognise such nations. Independent states call these nations ‘communities,’ ‘societies,’ ‘ethnic groups,’ ‘gens,’ ‘tribes,’ or even ‘confederacies’—anything but nation. This paper argues that dominance of the western idea of nation happened for two reasons: first, triumph of European powers who believed in superiority of western ideas; and second, resilience and sustainability of European epistemology even after decolonisation. However, it remains a reality that non-state nations demonstrated extraordinary resilience too, surviving perennial threats and assaults from state power. Indigenous nations are prime examples of such resilience. Indigenous peoples of North America are legally recognised as nations, though indigenous peoples of Asia and Africa are denied such recognition. In this article, the author explored different trajectories of indigenous peoples’ encounters with colonizers in settler-states and in the Third World and concludes that ‘nations-within’ should be recognised with respect.