Auteur: Laurent LADOUCE
Executive summary: The nation is based on three material elements (territory, population, sovereignty) but also on an immaterial principle, a “soul”, which gives it its vocation. In Japan, the national identity is inseparable from Shintoism and the figure of the Emperor, descendant of the solar goddess. In Indonesia, the ideology of Pancasila articulates faith in a single God, humanism, patriotic unity, consensual democracy and social justice, in a pluralistic framework. In the Hebrew and biblical model, Israel, the chosen people, has a triple blessing (spiritual, political, territorial) that has profoundly influenced Western political imagination, from medieval dynasties to the conception of sacred royalty. In Switzerland’s constitutional preamble, the federal alliance is placed under the name of God (Eidgenossenschaft). For Ernest Renan, the Nation is “a soul, a spiritual principle” consisting of the common heritage of memories and the present will to live together, a “plebiscite of every day” that takes precedence over other considerations (geography, language, religion, community of interest, etc.). This spiritual conception of the nation opposes contemporary materialism, which reduces the state to its own security and economic interests, recalling that the strength of a nation lies first and foremost without the solidarity born of suffering and shared sacrifices.
Keywords: Nation, Territory, Population, Sovereignty, Spiritual, Soul, Japan, Indonesia, Bible, Christianity, Switzerland, Ernest Renan.
Abstract: The nation rests on three material elements (territory, population, sovereignty) but also on an immaterial principle, a “soul,” which gives it its purpose. In Japan, national identity is inseparable from Shintoism and the figure of the Emperor, descendant of the sun goddess. In Indonesia, the ideology of Pancasila articulates faith in one God, humanism, patriotic unity, consensual democracy, and social justice within a pluralistic framework. In the Hebrew and biblical model, Israel, the chosen people, is the bearer of a threefold blessing (spiritual, political, territorial) that has profoundly influenced the Western political imagination, from medieval dynasties to the concept of sacred kingship. In the preamble to the Swiss Constitution, the federal alliance is placed under the invocation of God (Eidgenossenschaft). For Ernest Renan, the Nation is “a soul, a spiritual principle” constituted by the shared heritage of memories and the present will to live together, a “daily plebiscite” that takes precedence over other considerations (geography, language, religion, community of interests, etc.). This spiritual conception of the nation stands in opposition to contemporary materialism, which reduces the State to its security and economic interests alone, reminding us that the strength of a nation lies first and foremost in the solidarity born of shared suffering and sacrifice.
Keywords: Nation, Territory, Population, Sovereignty, Spiritual, Soul, Japan, Indonesia, Bible, Christianity, Switzerland, Ernest Renan.