Birlikism
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Birlikism 𑐧𑐶𑐬𑐮𑐶𑐎 Birlik | |
|---|---|
| Ideology | Chandan nationalism Cultural nationalism Multiculturalism Chandan socialism Militarism Corporatism Guided democracy Republicanism |
| Political position | Right-wing (social) Syncretic (economic) |
Birlikism (Chandan: 𑐧𑐶𑐬𑐮𑐶𑐎, Birlik, lit. "oneness") is a Chandan political ideology formed from the syncretism of Chandan nationalist ideologies that was gradually developed since the independence of the West Shalegho Commandery in 1935. It promotes the development of a Chandan national identity through the leadership of a vanguard party ruling over a centralized republic. Adopted as the national ideology of the country in 1951, Birlikism continues to be the dominant political ideology of Chanda, practiced by the parties of the governing Chandan Socialist Birlik Front.
Birlikism promotes the formation of a pan-Chandan national identity based upon an adaptation of socialist patriotism and the legacy of the West Shalegho Commandery. It opposes the existence of ethnic nationalism, instead promoting social cohesion and cultural harmony between ethnic groups. However at the same time, it seeks to "modernize" their cultures by rooting out perceived social ills and "outdated" thinking. In order to implement these ideals, the ideology supports the temporary creation of a one-party state until there is no longer a perceived threat to Chandan unity. Then political pluralism and democracy would be reintroduced from the ground up, according to the Four Step Plan. Birlikism promotes its own version of socialism, although it has some differences from traditional Nemtsovite thought. Instead it promotes an economic system where independent organisations are given a central role implementing socialism than the state. In Birlik ideology, socialism is a method to unite the people of Chanda and economically develop the country, rather than a means to achieve a classless society.
History
Birlikism traces its origins to anti-imperialist sentiment when the region was a part of the Heavenly Xiaodongese Empire. Various nationalist militias rose up during the Chandan War of Independence before they were integrated into the People's Liberation Army of Chanda who controlled the West Shalegho Commandery. Nevertheless, nationalistic feelings continued to grow as an alternative to the Pardal's pan-Coian ideology. Nevertheless, the Pardals promoted an inclusive multiethnic identity based upon socialist solidarity, declaring the birlik or "the oneness" of the people united to defend the Pardal cause. Birlikism would derive its fundamental principles, and its name, from this concept.
Beginning in the 1940s, many Chandans grew increasingly disillusioned with the Pardal ideology, especially the goal to create a pan-Coian state. As a result infighting in the West Shalegho Commandery and the PLA began between various factions. In turn the previous nationalist ideologies began to be adopted by an increasing number of Chandan intellectuals including the members of the PLA. Some of these members included Abdug'ani Yoʻldosh, Nurlan Sabir, Inomjon Alikhan, Wu Khar, and Kadri Badi together known as the Five Leaders of Chanda. The five men agreed that the Commandery no longer could fully serve the people of Chanda, and believed in the establishment of a republic. Influenced by the Imaharist concept of republicanism they embraced more authoritarian methods of rule.
Doctrine
Nationalism
The central concept of Birlikism is nationalism (𑐄𑐣𑐾𑐲𑐕𑐶𑐮𑐶𑐎; undeschilik), also known as Birlik nationalism. Birlik thought places the creation and continuation of a Chandan national identity as essential to the country's continued existence as an independent state. The Five Leaders sought to establish an national identity by adapting the socialist patriotism promoted by the Pardals into a pan-Chandan nationalism that could unite Chanda's culturally and religiously diverse population. They argued that since Chandan nationalism is a pan-nationalist ideology it would unite people into a common cause instead of dividing them. Furthermore it adopted the Nemtsovite concept of national liberation to argue that the Chandan people had to be united to defend against foreign imperialism.
Birlik nationalism explicitly rejects any kind of ethnic nationalism, labeling it as bourgeois nationalism and declaring it unworkable for Chanda's multiracial and multicultural society. Instead it promotes the multi-ethnic cultural unity of the people, and defines ethnic groups as "sub-divisions" of the Chandan people. Abdug'ani Yoʻldosh wrote in 1937 that "Chanda is of many races, languages, religions and cultures; to center an identity on any one would only serve to divide our country." As a result, he and other members of the Group vehemently opposed support of ethnic nationalism and especially separatism by any ethnic group. They believed that only with a single purpose, the country could achieve prosperity and defend its independence.
Multiculturalism
Birlikism seeks to prevent ethnic tension between the peoples of Chanda by promoting the concept of multiculturalism (Chandan: 𑐂𑐰; iv), literally translated as harmony. Iv is viewed as the logical extension to Nationalism, as a united identity requires that there be no conflict between the diverse people of Chanda.
Birlik thought places the state as the active guarantor and protector of Iv. In 1938, Yoʻldosh wrote, "to secure multiculturalism, the new Republic must guarantee the principles of freedom, equality, equal representation, and progressivism." The principle of freedom is the basis that all the people of Chanda are able to express their own culture without facing restriction by the state or prejudice by their fellow citizens. Equality refers to the principle that all the cultures and religions of Chanda are of equal worth so they are all equal before the law and entitled to the equal protection of the law. Next, representation establishes the principle that the peoples of Chanda are entitled to fair representation in Chandan society. The latter principle is achieved through corporatist ideals such as functional constituencies in legislative bodies and diverse regulatory institutions.
Progressivism is the last and most controversial concept. Under Birlik thought, while all cultures in Chanda are equal, it believes that some cultures contain certain cultural elements that should be suppressed in order for Chandan society to advance. In 1943, Inomjon Alikhan wrote that "every society is plagued with vice and corruption that harms the people. While often this is the fault of the individual, on occasion it is their society's permissiveness or even worse, support of behaviors, that lead to vice plaguing their society."
Socialism
Birlikism promotes its own interpretation of Socialism (𑐲𑐵𑐩𑐵𑐖𑐮𑐶𑐎, samajlik), which it claims is adapted for Chanda's unique cultural and economic situation. While it often invokes Nemtsovite rhetoric, Birlikist socialism rejects some of its principles. The ideology views the main purpose of socialism as method to promote economic equality, which would help achieve a unified Chandan society. It is often compared to the Birlikist principle of Harmony, due to its emphasis on equality. The goal of creating a classless society found in traditional socialism is only mentioned in Birlik thought in the context of unifying Chanda's people. It opposes the the principles of confiscation of private property, the seizure of the means of production, some aspects of class conflict, and leftist internationalism. Instead it embraces the principles of common ownership, distributism, and class cooperation.
Birlikism rejects state socialism, contending that the state is not the most efficient means of implementing socialism. Instead it promotes the idea of "patriotic" organisations with significant liberty over implementing economic policy while remaining accountable to the people and the government. The ideology explicitly implies that the military and similiar organisations should fulfill the role under the militarist concept of dual function in order to assist in the development of the country and its people. These organizations should, according to the ideology, should directly benefit the people through programs funded or directly implemented by them. The principle is inspired by the West Shalegho Commandery, where the People's Liberation Army played a major role in deciding and implementing economic policy, while the people were largely left to their own affairs.
The partial rejection of class conflict is another concept divergent from traditional leftist thought. To a certain extent, Birlik socialism has a less hostile view of the bourgeoisie in Chandan society. It views the Chandan bourgeoisie as petite bourgeoisie who were exploited by Xiaodongese imperialism and thus were an oppressed class. It still opposes the rest of the bourgeoisie and views the Xiaodongese as a fundamentally "haute bourgeoisie society" who exploited the people of Cious for millennia. To resist their influence, the ideology promotes the idea of a united front consisting of the petite bourgeoisie along with the working class, peasantry, and the intelligentsia.
However Birlikism recognizes that including the petite bourgeoisie in a Birlikist front, would continue exploitation between them and the rest of the classes. To end exploitation, Birlik socialism promotes a tripartite model that would establish fair labor regulations and strong collective bargaining for workers.
Militarism
The Birklik principle of Militarism, (𑐲𑐷𑐚𑐷𑐬𑐎𑐮𑐶𑐎, sätärlik) literally meaning alertness, was developed because of Chanda's vulnerable geopolitical position in Coius. Birlikism places the survival of Chanda on the state being able to defend the nation's sovereignty from external threats and secure internal stability from internal threats. It argues that Chandan independence and security can only be accomplished by a sufficiently militarized and orderly society that is united under Birlikist principles.
A major concept within Birlikist militarism, is the concept of dual function, which holds the idea that the armed forces should assist in maintaining Chanda’s political and social order as well as its territorial cohesion. Nurlan Sabir argued in a speech in 1951, that "a total people's defence is the ultimate goal of the Republic, where the military is completely dedicated to the strength and prosperity of Chanda". What roles the military should fulfill varied among the Five Leaders, but they universally agreed the military should focus on construction, especially of public works. Despite the integration of the military into domestic affairs, they opposed the creation of a military dictatorship or any kind of control over the civilian government. Rather they believed that the military should have a degree of independence from the government and they should only be given fair representation in the government, following corporatist ideals.
Republicanism
Many Birlikists believed that the government of the Commandery was inadequate to address Chanda's issues. Heavily inspired by the Imaharist principles of Statism and Republicanism, they developed the Birlikist principle of Republicanism (𑐀𑐫𑐩𑐵𑐑𑐲𑐵𑐑𑐵 𑐄𑐮𑐸𑐲𑐲𑐕𑐶𑐮𑐶𑐎, aymagsaga uluschilik). Birlikists envision the formation of a strong centralized government in the form of a republic, based upon the principles of Birlikism.
Birlikist republicanism accepts the concept of popular sovereignty as a means to ensure that the government continues to act in the best interests of Chanda. However at the same time, Sabir and other Birlikists argued that Chanda could not achieve full democracy since Birlikism and other "enlightened ideals" were still largely unknown to the general population. Thus they argued that they would not understand how important the ideology was to the survival of the country and fail to follow its principles. Birlikist theory held that a Birlikist front would hold power while they spread enlightened ideas to the people, until the people were able to govern themselves. According to Sabir, they would keep the uneducated masses out of the front until the population was was enlightened with understanding of Birlikism.
In Birlikist thought, the spread of Birlikist and enlightened ideals require the material and intellectual advancement of Chandan society, for the ideals to disseminate effectively. As a result, the introduction of full democracy and complete popular sovereignty would be a process that continues over decades, which Sabir called the Five Steps to Democracy.
- Consolidation: A Republic and its government is established by Birlikists. A Birlikist front retains total control in order to effectively develop Chanda through economic development and education.
- Enlightenment: The Chandan government educates the population about Birlikist principles through programs aimed at the youth and young adults. They are encouraged to challenge reactionary and conservative elements in society.
- Development: Democracy is introduced at the local level. The Front uses its grassroots movement to educate the people on how to exercise their democratic rights and other civic duties.
- Revolution: Democracy is introduced at the national level. The Front opens its membership to all members of society as they have been properly educated.
- Democracy: The democratic system is fully established and the people fully exercise their political rights "in a productive and educated" manner. With democracy complete, the Front would naturally lose its power to political parties created by the common people.