nonVolk

NonVolk is a term sometimes used in scholarly and literary contexts to refer to populations that are considered outside of a defined ethnocultural “Volk” — a concept derived from the German word for 'people' or 'nation.' It functions as an analytical counterpoint to the idea of Volk by signaling exclusion from the imagined homogeneity of the national community. The term is not standardized or widely used in official discourse; it appears mainly in critical discussions of nationalism, xenophobia, or citizenship, as well as in speculative fiction that examines ideas of belonging.

Origin and usage: nonVolk is a neologism formed by prefixing 'non-' to 'Volk.' It is mostly encountered in English-language scholarship and in imaginative literature, rather than as a formal term in German political language. In scholarly writing, it may be used provocatively to expose the ideological assumptions behind the boundary between 'us' and 'them.'

Applications: In political theory and sociology, nonVolk helps describe rhetorical strategies that demarcate insiders and outsiders, such as excluding immigrants, ethnic minorities, or diasporic communities from the conceived national body. In fiction, it can frame world-building around ethnically exclusive polities or contested identities.

Criticism: Critics argue that the term risks reinforcing othering and mirrors the very exclusion it seeks to analyze. It is not a precise sociological category and can be politically provocative or misleading if used without careful context.

See also: Volk, ethnonationalism, nationalism, othering, citizenship, cosmopolitanism.