The question of patriotism and its relation to nationalism and internationalism is an important one for Communists.1 What is correct and what is erroneous? Let us first define these terms.
Nationalist “patriotism” and true patriotism
Nationalism is an erroneous “patriotism” that emphasizes the supposed “superiority” of certain groups over others. Nazi Germany, Imperial Japan, “Israel,” Ukraine, and Imperialist America are all cases of nationalism.
In the words of Chairman Mao in October 1938:
There is the “patriotism” of the Japanese aggressors and of Hitler, and there is our patriotism. Communists must resolutely oppose the “patriotism” of the Japanese aggressors and of Hitler.
Within China, there was the reactionary nationalism of the Kuomintang (KMT) during the People’s Liberation War and the minor issue of Han chauvinism that exists in parts of China today.
Patriotism, on the other hand, is love and admiration for a nation and its values rooted in ancient civic traditions. It embraces all citizens, diversity, and civic responsibility and actively promotes unity and solidarity among the different people groups.
This is reflected in the efforts of China’s 56 ethnic groups to promote social harmony and unity. Regardless of their ethnic background, such as Hui, Han, Uyghur, or Tibetan, the Chinese people are working together to realize the Chinese Dream of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation (实现中华民族伟大复兴的中国梦).
Our nation is a large family (我们的国家是一个大家庭)
Some weeks ago, Comrade Amy Yang published an article compiling her personal experiences surrounding the idea of patriotism. I responded in a comment by voicing a notion I have constantly referenced when speaking to other Chinese.
In the context of the PRC, patriotism can be described even through terminology. In Chinese, the term for “nation,” 国家 (guojia), uses the word 家 (jia) as in 家庭 (jiating), which refers to a home or a family.
I see the great Chinese nation as a single united, harmonious, and loyal family, composed of the Party and the masses. In order to love the nation, we must cherish and support the Party and the masses as we would a family. In 1945, Chairman Mao asserted:
Our duty is to hold ourselves responsible to the People. Every word, every act, and every policy must conform to the People’s interests, and if mistakes occur, they must be corrected—that is what being responsible to the People means.
The Party listens to and guides the masses into a new era, just like parents. Just as there may be disagreements within a family, China also has internal contradictions, but these contradictions are resolved through criticism, self-criticism, and civilized dialogue.
Patriotism as applied internationalism
In his work on the role of the Party during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Chairman Mao affirmed that “we are at once internationalists and patriots.”
By fighting for our motherland, we achieve national liberation; through national liberation, we can achieve the liberation of the proletariat.
Trotskyites and other utopian “socialists” often claim that China and similar states have “abandoned socialism.” This is an erroneous tendency. Chairman Mao once said:
Only those who are politically muddle-headed or have ulterior motives talk nonsense about our having made a mistake and abandoned internationalism.
What of Communists in settler-colonies?
In settler-colonial states, a Communist’s patriotism cannot be equated with loyalty to the colonial constitution, flag, national myth, or ruling class. In the words of t 浮千岚:
[Canada is] nothing but a settler-colonial state supporting other settler-colonial states, separated by borders, singing distinct national anthems, but marching to the same beat.
This erroneous line is exemplified by the American Communist Party (ACP), essentially an alternate version of the Republican Party dressed in “Marxist” rhetoric, which constantly and seemingly proudly waves the settler-colonial American flag.2
Therefore, in these cases, the patriotism of these countries does not involve loyalty to the settler state but rather loyalty to the oppressed and colonized people living in those territories.
Communists’ patriotism in these states should be directed toward the Indigenous peoples inhabiting them; the ongoing anti-colonial struggle; and the restoration of land, power, and self-determination.
In these countries, Communists should be patriotic towards the colonized, not the colonizers; the settler-colonies themselves are arenas of struggle. All anti-revisionist Communists have in the past consistently supported the right to self-determination of all oppressed nations.
Furthermore, Communists residing in these states should not only express but also substantially demonstrate their solidarity with Indigenous communities, oppressed diaspora communities, and anti-imperialist states overseas. They must thoroughly reject chauvinism, settler nationalism, and imperial nostalgia.
Long live the great unity of the people of the world!
世界人民大团结万岁！
This article focuses primarily on patriotism for socialist states, though the added section near the end touches on the issue of “patriotism” for settler-colonial states. The release coincides exactly with Independence Day of the Republic of Belarus, as well as the 105th anniversary of the founding of the CPC and “Canada Day” on July 1st and American “Independence Day” on July 4th.
Finally, a reminder to my American readers that I generally use the term “state” when referring to countries, and this should not be confused with individual provinces within Imperialist America.
For the record, and as can be deduced through the article I linked, I have found that the ACP is relatively “more Marxist” than the revisionist CPUSA they split from in terms of theoretical understanding, and I have noted their support for China, Russia, and the DPRK. Despite this, there are still many issues with sectarianism and the top-level leadership which I cannot ignore.
What a day to be an Iranian socialist! And how I side with American proletarians cause they are oppressed too. People in Iran actually believe that American people are oppressed by their own government. So whenever a Ziopahlavist called you anything harassing or threatening know that we don’t collect them as Iranians, most of them are Israeli citizens. Also do I have to mention how we love Chinese and Russian people? Long live the patriotism and internationalism! ⭐️❤️
The same „Marxists“ who will whine about the purists and revisionists will not fail to feed you liberal definitions of the Gegenstand/Object, whenever it suits them. The points outlined in this article illustrate what happens when self-proclaimed "voices" of the proletariat lack any theoretical foundation.
To be a nationalist you don‘t have to emphasizes superiority. Nationalism is the ideological form in which a population is imagined as a unified political community across class divisions. It turns workers, capitalists and bureaucrats into members of one national family. That is already mystification even when it is inclusive or non-racial. That means a more „inclusive” patriotism can celebrate diversity, unity and responsibility while still demanding loyalty to class rule and national development.
The “nation as family” metaphor used here is reactionary and paternalist. A communist party is not the parent of the masses just as much as the proletariat is not a child. Class contradictions aren‘t family quarrels, but state loyalists will try to use this vocabulary to suppress concern over who controls production and the party-state apparatus.
The article’s own wording shows the substitution clearly: Party + masses = nation-family. The party is placed as the conscious parent of society, MLs have come so far to even admit that their dreams about the party being an instrument of the proletariat are just false, and have therefore turned to just becoming open apologists of class antagonisms, as long as it carries their preferred flag. Solidarity with oppressed peoples is one thing. Loyalty to “anti-imperialist states” is another. A state can oppose US imperialism while still exploiting its own working class, repressing dissent, enforcing wage labor, defending national capital and disciplining society for geopolitical competition.
The article managers to by accident show what patriotism actually is: It organizes loyalty of the working masses toward the Party-state and its national-developmental project. It asks them to experience their subordination as unity, their sacrifice as national duty, and their class conflict as an internal family contradiction.
-M.G.