Post #3
Nationalism — an excessive form of patriotism. Furthermore, according to Merriam-Webster Dictionary nationalism is “loyalty and devotion to a nation; especially : a sense of national consciousness exalting one nation above all others and placing primary emphasis on promotion of its culture and interests as opposed to those of other nations or supranational groups.”
In Suriname, nationalism began with its gained independence in 1942. Suriname tried to begin the decolonization process both politically and culturally. Politically it started with a focus on them being independent. The goal of their nationalism was to bring about integration to form a state where all citizens could identify with. This want to build an identity also spilled into the cultural nationalism. Nationalism is used as a vessel for growth. (Meel, 1998). In South America, and even more broadly Latin America, nationalism is used to form national identity.
In his book, The Post American World, Fareed Zakaria sees danger in the rise of nationalism because it has a potential of creating destruction on the global scale. Zakaria states that one of the challenges of many countries rising in growth is — “to stop the forces of global growth from turning into the forces of global disorder and disintegration” (34). With many of these countries growing, citizens would understandably feel pride. These countries are trying to assert their own identity and with it comes a power play in the post-Americanism world. Zakaria further states that “no solution, no matter how sensible, is sustainable if it is seen as illegitimate” (42). Legitimate power is the what has become more important.
In Chile, back in the mid to late 1800s, the Occupation of Araucanía occured. From 1861 to 1883 there were military campaigns by the army and settlers into Mapuche — a group of indigenous peoples located in southern Chile and southwestern Argentina — territory that led to Araucanía being added into Chilean territory. Because the Araucanía territory was splitting Chile — as seen in the map — Chileans thought it would be perfect for settlement especially to better transportation. The Mapuche tried to fight back but they were unsuccessful and many died fighting the army, thus the land went the Chile.
Inequality is an increasing problem in South America. With economies suffering due to nation leaders such as in Venezuela and Argentina, and inflation, the gap between the rich and the poor is increasing.
Inequality plays a crucial part in societies with more and more money being concentrated in the increasingly wealthy few and less money in the reaches of the increasing poor because money isn’t being put back into the economy. As Judt states in his book, Ill Fares the Land:
“Inequality is corrosive […] [and] in due course competition for status and goods increases; people feel a growing sense of superiority (or inferiority) based on their possessions; prejudice towards those on the lower ranks of the social ladder hardens; crime spikes and the pathologies of social disadvantage become ever more marked”
Inequality has played a huge role in shaping the economy of today.
The results of inequality can be seen in many areas around the continent of South America. One major one that I would like to bring up is income inequality. Income inequality has vastly declined from 2002 to 2014 but it still has the highest level of inequality in the world. Because inequality is related to poverty reduction, “an improvement in income distribution can reduce poverty.” This income inequality was and is being addressed by — labor-related of the poorest workers increasing; transfers to households increasing; and demographic change. This caused an increase in the middle class however, since 2014 many countries in Latin America are facing a more difficult macroeconomic environment and are experiencing less economic growth.
This link here shows the different GINI coefficients from 1980–2016 for both Suriname and more broadly, South America. Furthermore, the graph below shows some of the lowered GINI coefficients in South America however; they are still quite high. An interactive map can be found here.
Sources:
Judt, Tony. Ill Fares the Land: a Treatise on Our Present Discontents. Penguin Books, 2011.
Meel, Peter. “Towards a Typology of Suriname Nationalism.” New West Indian Guide / Nieuwe West-Indische Gids, vol. 72, no. 3–4, 1998, pp. 257–281., doi:10.1163/13822373–90002593.
“The Cup Runneth Over.” The Post-American World, by Fareed Zakaria, Penguin, 2009, pp. 7–61.
