Nationalism studies

"Historiography of nationalism" redirects here. For the influence of nationalism on the writing of history, see historiography and nationalism.

The Tower of Babel, a common symbol in discussions of nationalism (painting by Pieter Bruegel the Elder, 1563)

Nationalism studies is an interdisciplinary academic field devoted to the study of nationalism and related issues. While nationalism has been the subject of scholarly discussion since at least the late eighteenth century, it is only since the early 1990s that it has received enough attention for a distinct field to emerge.^[1]

Authors such as Hans Kohn, Elie Kedourie, Ernest Gellner, Karl Deutsch, Walker Connor, Anthony D. Smith, and Benedict Anderson laid the foundation for nationalism studies in the post-war period. In the early 1990s their ideas were enthusiastically taken up by academics, journalists, and others looking to understand and explain the apparent resurgence of nationalism marked by events such as the collapse of the Soviet Union, the genocide in Rwanda, and civil war and ethnic cleansing in the republics of the former Yugoslavia.

History of the field

The development of the field can be divided into four stages: (I) the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, when nationalism first emerged, and most interest in it was philosophical; (II) the period from the First World War until the end of the Second, when nationalism became a subject of formal academic inquiry; (III) the post-war period from 1945 to the late 1980s, when several sociologists and political scientists developed general theories of nationalism in the context of worldwide decolonisation and the 'ethnic revival' in the West; and (IV) the period following the fall of communism in 1989, which lead to a surge of interest in nationalism and the crystallisation of nationalism studies as a field.^[1]

Eighteenth and nineteenth centuries

"Up to the First World War," Umut Özkirimli explains, "interest in nationalism was largely ethical and philosophical. The scholars of this period, predominantly historians and social philosophers, were more concerned with the 'merits and defects' of the doctrine than with the origins and spread of national phenomena."^[2] The nation-state was seen as a progressive stage in the historical development of human societies, and both liberals and Marxists expected that nationalism would eventually give way to a cosmopolitan world order. In this context, nations and nationalism were taken for granted, and most authors who discussed them were motivated by some political concern. There were no attempts to fashion a general theory of nationalism that was applicable to all cases.^[3] Some of the important authors in this period include: Johann Gottfried Herder, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Emmanuel Joseph Sieyès, Johann Gottlieb Fichte, Giuseppe Mazzini, Ernest Renan, and John Stuart Mill.

Nationalism as an academic discipline

Several universities organize degree and non-degree courses on nationalism. Boston University, University of London, Central European University (Hungary), University of Edinburgh are among the most prominent institutions where the study of nationalism occupies a central place. The Faculty of Humanities of Eötvös Loránd University (Hungary) has recently launched a comprehensive short-term program, dedicated exclusively to the study of nationalism.

Journals

The first journal devoted to the study of nationalism was the Canadian Review of Studies in Nationalism, founded at the University of Prince Edward Island by Thomas Spira in 1973. Several similar journals have emerged since then, including the following:

• Ethnicities
• Ethnopolitics
• Ethnic and Racial Studies
• Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies
• Journal on Ethnopolitics and Minority Issues in Europe
• Nationalism and Ethnic Politics
• National Identities
• Nations and Nationalism
• Nationalities Papers
• Studies in Ethnicity and Nationalism

Associations

• Association for Research on Ethnicity and Nationalism in the Americas (ARENA)
• Association for the Study of Ethnicity and Nationalism (ASEN)
• Association for the Study of Nationalities (ASN)

Research groups, centres, institutes, and chairs

• Canada Research Chair in Nationalism and Democracy, Queen's University
• Centre for Research in Ethnic Relations, University of Warwick
• Centre for Research on Ethnic Relations and Nationalism, University of Helsinki
• Centre for Research on Nationalism, Ethnicity and Multiculturalism, University of Surrey
• Centre for the Study of Ethnicity and Citizenship, University of Bristol
• Centre for the Study of Ethnicity and Culture, University of Birmingham
• Ethnicity and Democratic Governance, Queen's University
• Ethnicty, Nationalism and Migration Section, International Studies Association
• Fulbright Chair in Ethnicity and Multicultural Citizenship, Queen's University
• Globalism and Nationalism, RMIT University

Academic programs

• The Boston School of Nationalism Studies, Boston University
• Nationalism and Ethnic Conflict, Birkbeck, University of London
• Nationalism Studies Program, Central European University
• Nationalism Studies, University of Edinburgh
• Nationalism Studies short-term program, Eötvös Loránd University

See also

• Sovereign state
• State (polity)
• Ethnicity

Notes

1. ^ ^{a b} Özkirimli, Umut (2000). Theories of Nationalism: A Critical Introduction. St. Martin's Press. pp. 15. ISBN 0333777115. http://books.google.com/?id=lG09IwAACAAJ. 
2. ^ Özkirimli, Umut (2000). Theories of Nationalism: A Critical Introduction. St. Martin's Press. pp. 12. ISBN 0333777115. http://books.google.com/?id=lG09IwAACAAJ. 
3. ^ Özkirimli, Umut (2000). Theories of Nationalism: A Critical Introduction. St. Martin's Press. pp. 12–13. ISBN 0333777115. http://books.google.com/?id=lG09IwAACAAJ. 

References

• Özkirimli, Umut (2000). Theories of Nationalism: A Critical Introduction. New York: St. Martin's Press. 
• Smith, Anthony D. (1998). Nationalism and Modernism: A critical survey of recent theories of nations and nationalism. London: Routledge. 

Further reading

Introductions and overviews

• Özkirimli, Umut (2000). Theories of Nationalism: A Critical Introduction. New York: St. Martin's Press. 
• Smith, Anthony D. (1998). Nationalism and Modernism: A critical survey of recent theories of nations and nationalism. London: Routledge. 
• Spencer, Philip; Howard Wollman (2002). Nationalism: A Critical Introduction. London: Sage Publications. 

Reference works

• Delanty, Gerard; Kumar, Krishan, eds (2006). The Sage Handbook of Nations and Nationalism. London: Sage Publications. ISBN 9781412901017. http://www.sagepub.com/refbooksProdDesc.nav?currTree=Subjects&level1=J00&prodId=Book226687 
• Leoussi, Athena, ed (2001). Encyclopedia of Nationalism. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers. ISBN 0765800020. http://books.google.com/?id=9_vuJusOJkMC 
• Motyl, Alexander, ed (2001). Encyclopedia of Nationalism. San Diego: Academic Press. ISBN 0122272307. http://books.elsevier.com/us//socsci/us/subindex.asp?maintarget=&isbn=0122272307&country=United+States&srccode=&ref=&subcode=&head=&pdf=&basiccode=&txtSearch=&SearchField=&operator=&order=&community=socsci 
• Snyder, Louis (1990). Encyclopedia of Nationalism. New York: Paragon House. ISBN 1557781672. http://books.google.com/?id=8ogYAAAAIAAJ 
• Spira, Thomas, ed (1999). Nationalism and Ethnicity Terminologies: An Encyclopedic Dictionary and Research Guide. Gulf Breeze, FL: Academic International Press. ISBN 0875692052. http://www.ai-press.com/NET.html 

External links

Websites

• The Nationalism Project

Mailing lists

• Centre for Research on Nationalism, Ethnicity and Multiculturalism Mail Group
• Citizenship, Democracy, and Ethnocultural Diversity Newsletter
• H-Citizenship Discussion Network
• H-Ethnic Discussion Network
• H-Nationalism Discussion Network
• Nationalism Research