Meanings
- uncountablepolitical scienceUnifying the people or peoples within a state so that it remains politically stable and viable in the long run.
The mythologizing, carried out over many decades, granted Italian-Americans “a formative role in the nation-building narrative.”
2019 October 12, Brent Staples, quoting Danielle Battisti, “How Italians Became ‘White’”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, archived from the original on 08 Dec 20192 more examples
Although uniquely favored by relatively viable political institutions, India yet shares this uncertainty with a large number of countries for which independence is but a first step on the road to nation-building.
1977, Reinhard Bendix, Nation-building and Citizenship: Studies of Our Changing Social Order, Univ of California Press, →ISBN, page 357The state hierarchizes sexuality by defining homosexuality as an influence that corrupts minors. Such a discourse produces a notion of the correct sexual behavior that transcends into the political realm, reinforcing the heteronationalistic nature of the nation-building.
2018 January 28, Nikita Sleptcov, “Political Homophobia as a State Strategy in Russia”, in Journal of Global Initiatives: Policy, Pedagogy, Perspective, volume 12, number 1, page 146
Translations
Finnish kansakunnan rakentaminen
- kansakunnan rakentaminenunifying the people within a state
Persian ملتسازی
- ملتسازی (mellat-sâzi)unifying the people within a state
Polish budowa narodu
- budowa naroduunifying the people within a state
Russian национа́льное строи́тельство
- национа́льное строи́тельство (nacionálʹnoje stroítelʹstvo)unifying the people within a state
Ukrainian націєтво́рення
- націєтво́рення (nacijetvórennja)unifying the people within a state
Vietnamese xây dựng đất nước
- xây dựng đất nướcunifying the people within a state
Cite this entry
nation-building. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/nation-building
“nation-building.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/nation-building. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “nation-building,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/nation-building.
Source: nation-building on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.