Intended meaning
Shahrur links the concept of the people to two levels within it: nationality and the nation. The people are not a single simple level, but a broader framework that brings these two dimensions together.
The atom’s structure in the atlas
- Type of argument: definitional
- Argument movement: makes the people a broader framework that includes nationality and the nation.
- Key terms: the people, nationality, the nation, framework, belonging.
- Degree of centrality: original.
This atom offers a structural definition of the people, and clarifies that it is not a simple unit, but a container that gathers different levels of identity together. It is a conception that is easy to grasp in general explanation.
Links that help reading
- Muhammad Shahrur: The State and Society
- The Civil State, Religion, and Authority
- the people
- nationality
- the nation
Grounding
- Supporting text: “Shahrur links the concept of the people to its included levels: nationality and the nation.”
Place of grounding in the book
- Book: The State and Society.
- Location: near the beginning of the book
- Type of grounding: close evidence.
- Verification marker: two included elements
- Reading note: This location works as support because it explicitly states that the nation and nationality are two included elements in the concept of the people.
Degree of documentation
- Level: directly documented
- Meaning of the level: the atom relies on an explicit witness close to the wording of the claim.
- Reading limits: the wording above is an analytical summary, and should not be treated as a verbatim quotation unless the witness is quoted word for word.
Its function in the book
Its function here is definitional; it fixes a meaning or conceptual distinction that Shahrur relies on in building the idea.
Related to
Editorial note
An important conceptual atom in the construction of social theory.