“Civic, critical and inclusive patriotism can bring democracy to life”

What are the origins of the idea of patriotism?

From ancient times, while the word “homeland” does not yet exist, we find the idea when the Greek cities defend themselves against the Persians during the Medic Wars (at the beginning of the 5th century BC); Then in Rome, when, for example, the lawyer Cicero (106 to 43 BC), defender of the Republic, evokes in some of his texts the duties towards this “res publica”.

In France, the term “pro Amor Patriae” appears in the Middle Ages. German historian Ernst Kantorowicz (1895-1963) devoted famous pages to it. A chapter of the Somme on the “places of memory” (1) led by our French colleague, Pierre Nora, also.

But obviously the revolution is a crucial moment in the definition of contemporary patriotism as well as the political nation. The words “patriotic” and “patriotic” on the one hand, “nation” and “national” on the other were extremely used in newspaper titles in 1789. And in 1792, when the fatherland was precisely attacked, we sing “Come on children of the fatherland”, “Sacred love of the fatherland” in La Marseillaise (THE War song for the Rhine army), to which the cry on the battlefield of Valmy responds: “Long live the nation.”

Is support for Europe compatible with patriotism?

Today, patriotism, understood as attachment to its homeland, its culture, its history and its values, can sometimes seem opposed to the idea of a European construction such that it has developed from the single act of 1986, the Maastricht Treaty and the Schengen agreements which transcend national borders.

Some philosophers have attempted to define European patriotism, but European construction is an idea too disembodied and not carnal enough to arouse real patriotic impulse. There are many obstacles to strong membership: Brussels bureaucracy, banknotes without European heroic figures, and an incomplete democracy in certain member countries. But we must not insult history, we do not know what the future has in store for us.

Can we be a patriot and pacifist?

Patriotism is not reduced to war. And its values are precisely safeguards against an aggressive war, a bellicism that I will distinguish from the defensive war. On the other hand, a pacifist can love his homeland and want to defend her other than by arms (by dialogue, diplomacy, humanitarian aid, etc.).

On the other hand, some pacifists will accept violence as a last resort, in a logic of “lesser evil” (for example, fighting to defend peace or avoiding a larger evil). In this case, they can act in the name of humanist patriotism. This was the case of Léon Blum (1872-1950), a socialist politician who refused full powers in Pétain in 1940, while another great socialist figure, Paul Faure (1878-1960), in the name of an intransigent pacifism, ended up joining Vichy.

Is patriotism an outdated concept?

Undeniably, patriotism is losing speed. He was on the rise at the time of the golden age of the nation states, roughly, from the French Revolution to the Second World War. But our current world is marked by globalization, the multiplication of identities (European, regional, global) and conversely, our societies see individualism rise.

In this context, patriotism can appear as archaic, even suspect. It is sometimes confused with nationalism, which tarnishes the image. And yet it is undoubtedly essential in our world which needs benchmarks and social cohesion. Faced with the rise of social and identity fractures, civic, critical and inclusive patriotism can play a positive role in bringing democracy to life and understanding what allows us to make society

(1) Collective, ed. Gallimard, 3 volumes, € 32.50 each.