G.G. Shpet about the nation and the nationalism problems

This article analyzes the views of G. Shpet on the problems of the nation and nationalism, as well as his a broader approach to the understanding of social space. At the beginning of the study reconstructed the concept of "narod" in the Shpets theory, which is a function of social emotions expressed in the changes of connotative meanings. In the understanding of the social use of language reveals the continuity of the concept of neo-Kantianism Shpet (Humboldt-Cassirer), Durkheim, Parsons, Weber, Husserl and Bakhtin. The article shows that Shpet is one of the founder of new methodological position, proclaiming the necessity of situational and contextual approach to the concept of "nation". This is opposed to a universal theory of nationalism, as well as the notion of "national idea" related to the understanding of the nation as a organism. Understanding of the nation depends on the historically conditioned system of oppositions. It allows confronts the myth of natural oragnic nation building. The article emphasizes the connection Shpets position to modern sociological theories (Anderson, Bourdieu) in terms of understanding the "nation" as a social construct and the product of symbolic manipulation. Shpet opposes substantialistic understanding this category, considering it as a volatile form of cataloging, as well as against the nominalist relativism, which reduces the diversity of the social world to the theoretical constructs. Shpet adheres to the principles of real social typology, and also rejects the homogeneous nature of the social space. The article shows Shpet formation of a new understanding of the social space in which the categories of perception of the social world are products of inclusiveness objective structures of this space. It is emphasized that in their theoretical views on these issues Spet avoided the ideological fervor, proclaiming no bias and methodological rigor of social science.

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