Beyond ‘economic nationalism’: towards a new research agenda for the study of nationalism in political economy

Economic nationalism is traditionally seen as the protectionist anti-thesis of economic globalisation. Recent revisionist scholarship has exposed the flaws of this traditional approach but has not been able to challenge the latter’s dominance in the field. The article argues that the root cause of these problems lies in the narrow international political economy focus of the economic nationalism concept, and it advocates replacing the concept with a broader framework for the study of nationalism in political economy. Systematically drawing on nationalism studies, the article first discusses the most commonly adopted approach to nationalism as an ideological programme. Different versions of this approach are mapped, and particular emphasis is placed on the need to pay closer attention to the hitherto neglected domestic community aspect. In a second step, three other, less explored approaches are introduced, namely nationalism as political movement, as political discourse, and as everyday sentiment. These approaches are conceptually demarcated from an ideology-focused paradigm, and their relevance and research potential for political economists are highlighted. While diluting the classic focus on international economic order, the framework embeds scholarship on the nationalism-economy nexus in a broader field of studies at the intersection between constructivist political economy and nationalism studies.