Publisher's Synopsis
What is a Civic Nation? A Republic of Shared Dreams is a profound inquiry into the origins, contradictions, and future of civic nationalism. As the second volume in Levent Çaglar's philosophical-political series The Life of Nations, it carries forward a rigorous intellectual journey that began with What is a Nation?, offering readers an enriched understanding of how national identities are constructed, contested, and reimagined in modern society.
While many discussions on nationalism revolve around ethnicity, language, or state sovereignty, Çaglar challenges these assumptions by turning the focus toward civil society, moral agency, and emotional solidarity. At a time when authoritarian populism and ethnonationalist fervor dominate political discourse across the globe, What is a Civic Nation? reclaims nationalism from its most dangerous impulses-and proposes a revolutionary alternative rooted in dignity, freedom, and shared humanity.
Drawing on political theory, sociology, history, and moral philosophy, the book traces how civic nations emerge not through coercive power or mythologized pasts, but through shared ideals, ethical institutions, and democratic participation. It explores the historical evolution of classical nations, the influence of capitalism and industrial society, and the transformative power of Enlightenment thought. Yet this is no nostalgic return to liberal universalism. Çaglar confronts head-on the contradictions of civic life: the tension between individual freedom and collective belonging, the suppression of moral diversity by state institutions, and the fragility of democratic values in a market-driven world.
One of the book's most powerful contributions is its insistence on the role of emotion in nationhood. Far from reducing nationalism to cold political structures, Çaglar treats love, memory, longing, and fear as core to the human condition-and central to the formation of nations. Civic nationalism, in his vision, is not a sterile contract but a living moral community. It is built not just on legal citizenship, but on mutual recognition, moral responsibility, and the freedom to dissent.
The book also provides a critical examination of regimes that have weaponized nationalism for authoritarian control-offering Türkiye as a central case study. It critiques idealist notions of national identity imposed by the state and explores how historical memory and cultural pluralism are manipulated or erased in service of political power. Through this lens, Çaglar exposes the tragic consequences of conflating state legitimacy with national belonging.
Yet What is a Civic Nation? is not merely a work of critique; it is a visionary proposal. It offers a new language for thinking about national community-one that is inclusive without being homogenizing, emotional without being fanatical, and morally grounded without being dogmatic. It challenges readers to imagine a nation not as an inheritance of blood, but as a republic of shared dreams-a space where dignity, justice, and difference can coexist in creative tension.
For academics, students, policymakers, and general readers alike, this book is both a philosophical meditation and a political manifesto. It dares to ask: In a fragmented world, can we still imagine nations as instruments of human liberation rather than domination? Can we reclaim the moral soul of citizenship and build societies that honor both the individual and the collective?
In an era where walls are rising, divisions are deepening, and truth is contested, What is a Civic Nation? offers a bold, necessary, and hopeful intervention. It is a book for our time-and a blueprint for a more humane future.
