No one can or should contest a people’s right to self-determination. Indeed, I don’t think Marina Lewycka, who’s British-Ukrainian, was contesting it either.

However, when we speak about nations, states, countries and peoples, these aren’t interchangeable terms. According to American anthropologist Clifford Geertz: A nation means “blood, race, descent, and the mysteries and mystifications of biological alikeness”. A state is about “political and civic loyalty and the indivisibilities of law, obedience, force, and government”. A country is about “geographical aggregation, territorial demarcation, and the sense of origin, home, and habitat”. A society is about “interaction, companionship, and practical association, the encounter of persons and the play of interests”. And a people is about “cultural, historical, linguistic, religous, or psychological affinity — a quiddity of spirit”.

That’s actually the subject of today’s piece.