Antinationalism

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Opposition to excessive national pride, sovereignty, or the prioritization of national interests over international cooperation and shared human values
2. A belief system that criticizes strong national identity and advocates for global cooperation while challenging the supremacy of national interests over universal human rights
3. The doctrine opposing extreme nationalism promotes international solidarity by rejecting the notion that national loyalty should overshadow shared human ethics and collaboration

Etymology: Antinationalism is one of those words where the history is simply a matter of construction: it is formed from the prefix "anti-", meaning "against" or "opposed to", attached to "nationalism." The prefix comes from Greek "anti," which carried the sense of "opposite" or "in place of" long before it became a productive tool in English for forming words that express opposition. The base word does most of the work. "Nationalism" pairs "nation," from Latin "natio" (a birth, a group of people sharing origin), with the suffix "-ism," a Greek-derived marker for doctrines and movements. Once "nationalism" existed as a term for devotion to one's own nation and its independence, English speakers could easily form its opposite by adding "anti-," producing a word for a stance that rejects that devotion or the priority given to national interests over international cooperation.

Synonyms: globalism, internationalism, cosmopolitanism, transnationalism, universalism

Antonyms: nationalism, patriotism, loyalism, sectionalism, localism