Nationalism is one of the most powerful aspects of political life, connected with the defining conflicts of today.

This episode is dedicated to exploring the differences between nations and states, how they are

confused, and how they have come to be seen as intrinsically bound up together in recent centuries. While there

is a largely unconcious conventional notion that nations should ideally have their own states, there is a way to 

look at things that reveals the opposite. It shows that the fusion of nations and states is not an ideal but a source of 

conflict and the degradation of national cultureitself, and a central problem of political thoughts and life today. 

References:

Anderson, Benedict. Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism. London - New York: Verso, 2006.

Gottlieb, Gidon. Nation Against State: A New Approach to Ethnic Conflicts and the Decline of Sovereignty. Council on Foreign Relations, 1993.

Jefferson, Thomas. Thomas Jefferson: Writings (LOA #17): Autobiography / Notes on the State of Virginia / Public and Private Papers / Addresses / Letters. Library of America, 1984.

Steiner, Rudolf. Towards Social Renewal: Rethinking the Basis of Society. Rudolf Steiner Press, 1999.

Questions of Courage is a project of the Youth Section at the Goetheanum, in collaboration with Goetheanum TV.
To support the Youth Section Global Access Fund, please visit: https://www.goetheanum.org/en/youth-donations.