ABSTRACT

The first major study in over three decades to explore the essential arguments of all the major theoretical interpretations of nationalism, from the modernist approaches of Gellner, Nairn, Breuilly, Giddens and Hobsbawm to the alternative paradigms of van den Bergh and Geertz, Armstrong and Smith himself.
In a style accessible to the student and the general reader Smith traces the changing view of this hotly discussed topic within the current political, cultural and socioeconomic arena. He also analyses the contributions of such historians, sociologists and political scientists as Seton-Watson, Reynolds, Hastings, Horowitz and Brass. The survey concludes with an analysis of post-modern approaches to national identity, gender and nation, making it indispensable reading to all those interested in gaining full and authoritative knowledge of nationalism.

chapter |7 pages

Introduction: The modernist paradigm

chapter 1|17 pages

The rise of classical modernism

part |2 pages

Part I Varieties of modernism

chapter 2|20 pages

The culture of industrialism

chapter 3|23 pages

Capitalism and nationalism

chapter 4|27 pages

State and nation

chapter 5|20 pages

Political messianism

chapter 6|26 pages

Invention and imagination

part |2 pages

PART II Critics and alternatives

chapter 7|25 pages

Primordialism and perennialism

chapter 8|29 pages

Ethno-symbolism

chapter 9|22 pages

Beyond modernism?