Nationalism and Its Logical Foundations

198 Pages·2009·2.53 MB·English

by  Amílcar Antonio Barreto (auth.)

I dedicate this book to James R. Stellar
Nationalism and Its
Logical Foundations
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Nationalism and Its
Logical Foundations
Amílcar Antonio Barreto
nationalism and its logical foundations
Copyright © Amílcar Antonio Barreto, 2009.
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2009 978-0-230-61864-0
All rights reserved.
First published in 2009 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN® in the United
States—a division of St. Martin’s Press LLC, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY
10010.
Where this book is distributed in the UK, Europe and the rest of the world, this
is by Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited, registered
in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire
RG21 6XS.
Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies and
has companies and representatives throughout the world.
Palgrave® and Macmillan® are registered trademarks in the United States, the
United Kingdom, Europe and other countries.
ISBN 978-1-349-38120-3 ISBN 978-0-230-10010-7 (eBook)
DOI 10.1057/9780230100107
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available from the Library
of Congress.
A catalogue record of the book is available from the British Library.
Design by Scribe Inc.
First edition: October 2009
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
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Contents
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction 1
1 Nationalism from Three Directions 9
2 Rationality’s Janus-like Nature 33
3 Modeling Social and Material Recompense 59
4 Ode to a Hero 79
5 Duty, Honor, and the Supreme Sacrifice 105
Conclusion 129
Notes 135
Bibliography 163
Index 181
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Acknowledgments
The seeds for this project were sown soon after I moved to Boston in 1996.
Although I was a new Assistant Professor, I was already interested in tack-
ling this topic at some future date. Many of my peers would have been
enticed to jump headfirst into a new project. The fashion conscious—or
fashionistas, according to some of my friends—wait with gleeful anticipa-
tion for the latest trends; they are first in line to gleefully don the most
recent craze. Like some of the individuals discussed in this book, they
blissfully submit to their innermost and fervent passions. Many academ-
ics do likewise. They can be tempted to stop what they were doing, or
shelve their current research agenda, in order to jump into an exciting
and novel line of inquiry. Despite temptation I heeded the wise counsel of
many who warned me that junior faculty needed to focus their efforts on
a narrow topic and wait until they were tenured before leaping into new
adventures. Indeed, over the years, I saw one to many brilliant academics
enticed, like Icarus, to fly too close to the sun. Painful as it was I heeded
their counsel.
Without institutional support I could not have completed this project
in a timely manner. From my home department, I deeply appreciate the
help I received from my chairman, John Portz. To our dedicated staff,
especially Barbara Chin and Janet-Louise Joseph, all I can do is quote
Tina Turner and say, “Simply the Best!” I appreciate the support of my
Dean, Bruce Ronkin, and his staff. I researched a portion of this project
while on a Visiting Fellowship at the Chaim Herzog Center for Middle
East Studies and Diplomacy at Ben Gurion University in 2005. There I
was introduced to a remarkable group of scholars who were gladly will-
ing to share their insights. I am profoundly indebted to my host at Ben
Gurion, Yoram Meital, and his outstanding assistants—particularly Dvo-
rah Kramer and Aliza Uzen-Swisa—for making that fellowship a possibil-
ity and a delight.
This project would never have been possible without the input of many
friends and colleagues. Through casual chats, conversations, and quite a