Nationalism: A Very Short Introduction

161 Pages·2005·1.54 MB·english

by  Steven Grosby

Nationalism: A Very Short Introduction
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ANCIENT WARFARE THE COLD WAR Robert McMahon
Harry Sidebottom CONSCIOUSNESS Susan Blackmore
THE ANGLO-SAXON AGE Continental Philosophy
John Blair Simon Critchley
ANIMAL RIGHTS David DeGrazia COSMOLOGY Peter Coles
ARCHAEOLOGY Paul Bahn CRYPTOGRAPHY
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ART THEORY Cynthia Freeland Democracy Bernard Crick
THE HISTORY OF DESCARTES Tom Sorell
ASTRONOMY Michael Hoskin DESIGN John Heskett
Atheism Julian Baggini DINOSAURS David Norman
Augustine Henry Chadwick DREAMING J. Allan Hobson
BARTHES Jonathan Culler DRUGS Leslie Iversen
THE BIBLE John Riches THE EARTH Martin Redfern
BRITISH POLITICS EGYPTIAN MYTH Geraldine Pinch
Anthony Wright EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY
Buddha Michael Carrithers BRITAIN Paul Langford
BUDDHISM Damien Keown THE ELEMENTS Philip Ball
BUDDHIST ETHICS Damien Keown EMOTION Dylan Evans
CAPITALISM James Fulcher EMPIRE Stephen Howe
THE CELTS Barry Cunliffe ENGELS Terrell Carver
CHOICE THEORY Ethics Simon Blackburn
Michael Allingham The European Union
CHRISTIAN ART Beth Williamson John Pinder
EVOLUTION MEDICAL ETHICS Tony Hope
Brian and Deborah Charlesworth MEDIEVAL BRITAIN
FASCISM Kevin Passmore John Gillingham and Ralph A. Griffiths
FOUCAULT Gary Gutting MODERN ART David Cottington
THE FRENCH REVOLUTION MODERN IRELAND Senia Pasˇeta
William Doyle MOLECULES Philip Ball
FREE WILL Thomas Pink MUSIC Nicholas Cook
Freud Anthony Storr Myth Robert A. Segal
Galileo Stillman Drake NATIONALISM Steven Grosby
Gandhi Bhikhu Parekh NIETZSCHE Michael Tanner
GLOBALIZATION NINETEENTH-CENTURY
Manfred Steger BRITAIN Christopher Harvie and
GLOBAL WARMING Mark Maslin H. C. G. Matthew
HABERMAS NORTHERN IRELAND
James Gordon Finlayson Marc Mulholland
HEGEL Peter Singer PARTICLE PHYSICS Frank Close
HEIDEGGER Michael Inwood paul E. P. Sanders
HIEROGLYPHS Penelope Wilson Philosophy Edward Craig
HINDUISM Kim Knott PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE
HISTORY John H. Arnold Samir Okasha
HOBBES Richard Tuck PLATO Julia Annas
HUME A. J. Ayer POLITICS Kenneth Minogue
IDEOLOGY Michael Freeden POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY
Indian Philosophy David Miller
Sue Hamilton POSTCOLONIALISM
Intelligence Ian J. Deary Robert Young
ISLAM Malise Ruthven POSTMODERNISM
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JUDAISM Norman Solomon POSTSTRUCTURALISM
Jung Anthony Stevens Catherine Belsey
KAFKA Ritchie Robertson PREHISTORY Chris Gosden
KANT Roger Scruton PRESOCRATIC PHILOSOPHY
KIERKEGAARD Patrick Gardiner Catherine Osborne
THE KORAN Michael Cook Psychology Gillian Butler and
LINGUISTICS Peter Matthews Freda McManus
LITERARY THEORY QUANTUM THEORY
Jonathan Culler John Polkinghorne
LOCKE John Dunn RENAISSANCE ART
LOGIC Graham Priest Geraldine A. Johnson
MACHIAVELLI Quentin Skinner ROMAN BRITAIN Peter Salway
THE MARQUIS DE SADE ROUSSEAU Robert Wokler
John Phillips RUSSELL A. C. Grayling
MARX Peter Singer RUSSIAN LITERATURE
MATHEMATICS Timothy Gowers Catriona Kelly
THE RUSSIAN REVOLUTION SPINOZA Roger Scruton
S. A. Smith STUART BRITAIN John Morrill
SCHIZOPHRENIA TERRORISM
Chris Frith and Eve Johnstone Charles Townshend
SCHOPENHAUER THEOLOGY David F. Ford
Christopher Janaway THE HISTORY OF TIME
SHAKESPEARE Germaine Greer Leofranc Holford-Strevens
SIKHISM Eleanor Nesbitt TRAGEDY Adrian Poole
SOCIAL AND CULTURAL THE TUDORS John Guy
ANTHROPOLOGY TWENTIETH-CENTURY
John Monaghan and BRITAIN Kenneth O. Morgan
Peter Just THE VIKINGS Julian D. Richards
SOCIALISM Michael Newman Wittgenstein A. C. Grayling
SOCIOLOGY Steve Bruce WORLD MUSIC Philip Bohlman
Socrates C. C. W. Taylor THE WORLD TRADE
THE SPANISH CIVIL WAR ORGANIZATION
Helen Graham Amrita Narlikar
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AFRICAN HISTORY HIV/AIDS Alan Whiteside
John Parker and Richard Rathbone HUMAN EVOLUTION
ANGLICANISM Mark Chapman Bernard Wood
THE BRAIN Michael O’Shea INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
CHAOS Leonard Smith Paul Wilkinson
CITIZENSHIP Richard Bellamy JAZZ Brian Morton
CONTEMPORARY ART MANDELA Tom Lodge
Julian Stallabrass THE MIND Martin Davies
THE CRUSADES PERCEPTION Richard Gregory
Christopher Tyerman PHILOSOPHY OF LAW
THE DEAD SEA SCROLLS Raymond Wacks
Timothy Lim PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION
Derrida Simon Glendinning Jack Copeland and
ECONOMICS Partha Dasgupta Diane Proudfoot
THE END OF THE WORLD PHOTOGRAPHY Steve Edwards
Bill McGuire PSYCHIATRY Tom Burns
EXISTENTIALISM Thomas Flynn RACISM Ali Rattansi
FEMINISM Margaret Walters THE RAJ Denis Judd
THE FIRST WORLD WAR THE RENAISSANCE
Michael Howard Jerry Brotton
FOSSILS Keith Thomson ROMAN EMPIRE
FUNDAMENTALISM Christopher Kelly
Malise Ruthven ROMANTICISM Duncan Wu
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Steven Grosby
NATIONALISM
A Very Short Introduction
1
3
Great Clarendon Street, Oxford ox2 6dp
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© Steven Grosby 2005
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First published as a Very Short Introduction 2005
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British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
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Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
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ISBN 0–19–284098–3
978–0–19–284098–1
1357910864 2
Typeset by RefineCatch Ltd, Bungay, Suffolk
Printed in Great Britain by
TJ International Ltd., Padstow, Cornwall
Contents
Acknowledgements ix
List of illustrations xi
1
The problem 1
2
What is a nation? 7
3
The nation as social relation 27
4
Motherland, fatherland, and homeland 43
5
The nation in history 57
6
Whose god is mightier? 80
7
Human divisiveness 98
8
Conclusion 116
References 121
Further reading 132
Index 135
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Acknowledgements
Of the many scholars whose work on nations and nationalism has
influenced my thinking on these subjects, three merit special
mention: John Hutchinson, Anthony Smith, and Edward Shils.
From John Hutchinson, I have acquired a greater appreciation for
the component of cultural symbolism in the formation of the
nation. The important work of Anthony Smith must be the point
of departure for anyone wanting to understand nations and
nationalism, as Smith has clarified the problems of this entire field
of study. Over the years, I have returned again and again to the
writings of Edward Shils, understanding better each time his
insight that all societies consist of a continual interplay of creativity,
discipline, acceptance, and refusal, against a shifting scene of the
different pursuits of humanity. I gratefully acknowledge a research
fellowship from the Earhart Foundation that afforded me the time
to complete this book.