3. Yael Tamir. Holds a degree in Liberal Nationalism at Oxford University. Her major book, Liberal Nationalism (Studies in Moral, Political, and Legal Philosophy ) was first published in 1995. Her aim was to evaluate whether liberal nationalism could be established using the ‘Israeli test-case’. Her proposals are: -nations form the sociological basis of our lives -the prevalent paradigm of political life on the globe today is that of the ‘nation state’ -argues most liberals are de-facto liberal nationalists -liberal nationalism is based on the premise of “"no individual can be context-free, but that all can be free within a context" -national self-determination is the single most important source of political legitimacy in contemporary political life -liberal nationalism is a prescriptive theory. It stipulates the conception of nationalism one ought to adopt rather than describing the range of phenomena normally associated with nationalism -organic interpretations of nationalism that "assume that the identity of the individual is totally constituted by their national membership", this definition has strong individualistic leanings: 1 st - a premium placed on individual choice of communal identity. Tamir seeks to encourage "agents who acknowledge that their ends are meaningful only within a social context, but who do not necessarily accept socially dictated ends unreflectively“. Second, the right to national self-determination is conceived of as a right belonging to individuals not to a collective: "the fact that we acquire an interest due to our membership in a particular group does not alter its essential nature as an individual interest"
4. Civic (communitarian) view of the nation Renan – a nation is characterised by the ‘will to live together’ Emphasis on political allegiance as well as cultural unity nations are moral entities – should be treated equally Individuals need national identity to lead meaningful and autonomous lives