Abstract: The term “nationalism” means different things for different people; it is most often associated with national identity, territorial autonomy, political loyalty, civil religion, emotions, and patriotism. Recent sociopolitical developments and the COVID 19 pandemic point towards an increase in protectionist and nationalist ideologies across nation states. Systems theory informs us that organizations are open systems which are highly impacted by changes in external environment, and thus by changes in political and sociopolitical landscape. Human resources in organizations play a principle role in enhancing long-term sustainability, and human resources are susceptible to external environmental changes. Therefore, human resources practice as a process or subsystem may also be impacted due to the rise of nationalism along with COVID -19 restrictions and may have to realign its existing practices to positively influence people, communities, society, and the environment. This conceptual paper explores impending challenges that nationalism presents for human resources practice.
