Nationalism in the Age of New Media: A Review on Emerging Forms and Digital Dynamics of “New” Nationalism

Abstract

• This review tries to examine the resurgence of nationalism in the era of 21st century, where digital technology acts as a major catalyst for societal upheavals and ideological trajectories. With a particular focus on how new media platforms reshape and intensify the nationalist discourse, it also describes in detail the types and their structural formations with political breeding grounds. Drawing on classic theories of nationalism and recent scholarship of digital politics, it synthesizes five main forms of new nationalism: digital ethno-nationalism, populist nationalism, algorithmic nationalism, cultural/consumer nationalism, and memetic nationalism. Furthermore, the review highlights the structural dynamics which are the mechanisms of digital platforms—through algorithms, participatory cultures, and viral circulation—transform nationalism in to a decentralized and manipulable phenomenon. By integrating cases from diverse geopolitical contexts, the paper argues that “new” nationalism is not an ideologically novel entity but technologically adaptive, relying on the logics of digital media to sustain exclusionary as a solidified political identity. Overall, this article contributes to the current debate in new media and nationalism: first, it provides a conceptual framework for understanding nationalism in networked society influenced by digital technology and then, identifies critical research gaps for further studies on digital governance, algorithmic bias, and the affective techno-political dynamics prevalent in post-new media age.