Bourgeois nationalism is a term from Marxist phraseology. It refers to the practice of dividing people by nationality, race, ethnicity, or religion, in order to make them hate (and possibly fight) each other. It is seen as a divide and conquer strategy used by the ruling classes to prevent the working class from uniting against them (hence the Marxist slogan, Workers of all countries, unite!).

Minority national cultures were not completely abolished in the Soviet Union. By Soviet definition, national cultures were to be "socialist by content and national by form", to be used to promote the official aims and values of the state. In practice, Russian national culture and language were promoted, especially during and after World War II, while Ukrainian, Georgian, Armenian, Lithuanian, Jewish (see Yevsektsiya) and others were suppressed and their leaders purged.

The antonym of Bourgeois nationalism is Proletarian internationalism.

See also

• Marxism

References

• Internationalism and Nationalism by Liu Shaoqi
• Marxism and Nationalism by Tom Lewis