Patriotism

05May07

I am a devout anti-nationalist and usually sneer at arbitrary love of one’s country, but recognize that these kinds of feelings are always strongest when away from the country in question. After a mere 4 days out of the country, I was no exception and quickly betrayed my principle as soon as I heard that the most influential Canadian philosopher around was giving a keynote lecture downtown. Despite my best efforts I felt proud when Charles Taylor spoke of “his country”.

This was a highly appropriate feeling given that a part of his lecture dealt with how identity markers “come out of the closet” when we encounter forces which put them in contrast; see otherwise secular-atheist Europeans balking at the idea of a non-Christian country joining the EU, and otherwise apathetic post-Quiet Revolution residents of Hérouxville codifying Catholic culture in the face of Muslim immigration.

I’m not familiar with most of Taylor’s work, but my favourite political theory prof at Carleton had studied under him at McGill, and was a big fan: he made the risqué move of including The Malaise of Modernity, Taylor’s Massey Lectures, in the reading list for the year-long introduction to the Western canon, alongside the works of Plato, Rousseau and Dostoevsky. My professor, Geoffrey Kellow, was well-known for throwing in a punchline every 3-5 minutes to keep everyone in the mandatory course interested; it seems he learned this too from his mentor.

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