Chauvinism

A radical, extremist form of nationalism, characteristic of powers seeking to justify before public opinion wars of occupation, conquest, plunder, as well as “ethnic cleansing” and other such crimes. C. proclaims the superiority of the victor over the vanquished, the strong over the weak, the exploiter over the exploited, etc. More often than not, c. displays a racist face, proclaiming the superiority of one race over others. This phenomenon’s name is owed to Nicholas Chovin, a sergeant in the First Empire’s Napoleonic army at the beginning of the nineteenth century. Contemporary humanism unmasks and condemns c. as an anti-humanist ideology and practice that values nation and race above the human being, incites one group against another, and glorifies violence as a method for resolving conflicts.