Does the Nation Matter?

have taken this much further arguing that lingering national sentiment is a residue of oppression and must be actively expunged from our political life or radically remade to expressly include everyone. Conservative and pre-WWII liberal views arguably would endorse the nation and something that is an important unifier which underpins our political structures, and without which the political structures themselves become shaky.

This latter argument is made by Sir Roger Scruton in his article In Defence of the Nation which is unfortunately behind a paywall or has to be bought as part of The Philosopher on Dover Beach (which is well worth buying!). For those not wishing to pay I encourage you to watch his 2019 speech on nationalism, but not essential.
Update: I have now provided a copy of Scruton's article in the comments against my better judgement, firstly because I'm probably playing fast and loose with copyright law and secondly because it is a reasonably complex work of political philosophy and I don't want anyone to feel like they need to understand it, or read it, to come along. We could easily spend a year on this article alone. So please don't be put off.
I will speak about this article and Australia's situation today for about 10 minutes before opening it up for discussion.
Other resources that might be of interest include Ernest Renan’s shortish article from the late 19th century What is a Nation? which is not paywalled.
Any other resources you wish to read and refer to in discussion is up to you.
As always you are welcome to come earlier and grab some dinner (or eat dinner while we talk). I will get there about 6:30.