European Nations And Nationalism

This rich source book informs its reader in a comparative perspective about the political and social-economic past and present of fifteen Western, Central and Eastern European countries. This includes the economic and social aspects of the development of the nation state, descriptions of the current political structures and institutions, an account of the types of ethnic composition of the populations, definitions of citizenship and a background to the existing political parties and preferences. The countries involved are: the Russian Federation, Ukraine, Romania, Hungary, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Poland, Germany, Sweden, The Netherlands, Belgium, Britain, France, Spain and Italy. The authors are scholars in the fields of nationalism and ethnic conflict and they were invited to write their country chapters along the lines of a common format, paying special attention to the notion of state and nation building processes, citizenship definitions and minority issues. This book is a comprehensive reference guide for students and scholars in the fields of social sciences, European studies, history and other related disciplines and generally to those who are interested in the past and present of any one of the large number of countries described.

One of the world’s leading theorists of nationalism offers a new synthesis In the history of modern political thought, no topics have attracted as much attention as nationalism, nation-formation, and patriotism. A mass of literature has grown around these vexed issues, muddying the waters, and a level-headed clarification is long overdue. Rather than adding another theory of nationalism to this maelstrom of ideas, Miroslav Hroch has created a remarkable synthesis, integrating apparently competing frameworks into a coherent system that tracks the historical genesis of European nations through the sundry paths of the nation-forming processes of the nineteenth century. Combining a comparative perspective on nation-formation with invaluable theoretical insights, European Nations is essential for anyone who wants to understand the historical roots of Europe’s current political crisis.

A comparative analysis of the political and social-economic past and present of fifteen European countries. The development of nation states, the nature of political structures, institutions and parties, the ethnic composition of populations and definitions of citizenship are all explored.

In this wide-ranging work, Caspar Hirschi offers new perspectives on the origins of nationalism and the formation of European nations. Based on extensive study of written and visual sources dating from the ancient to the early modern period, the author re-integrates the history of pre-modern Europe into the study of nationalism, describing it as an unintended and unavoidable consequence of the legacy of Roman imperialism in the Middle Ages. Hirschi identifies the earliest nationalists among Renaissance humanists, exploring their public roles and ambitions to offer new insight into the history of political scholarship in Europe and arguing that their adoption of ancient role models produced massive contradictions between their self-image and political function. This book demonstrates that only through understanding the development of the politics, scholarship and art of pre-modern Europe can we fully grasp the global power of nationalism in a modern political context.

`A major addition to the curent literature on the challenging topic of how national identities are moulded.' - Michela Biddiss, Department of History University of Reading.

From the end of the Second World War until the recent break-up of the communist regimes, there has been a widespread assumption that the age of nationalism had passed and that nationalism was made up of a set of dangerous and disastrous ideas. States andNationalismexamines the ceaseless controversies surrounding the ideas of the nation and nationalism and shows that they are very far from dead in twenty-first century Europe. Beginning by defining these terms and setting out theories and concepts clearly and concisely, this book analyzes the impact of nationalism since the Second World War, covering themes that include the relationship of nationalism to the Cold War; the re-emergence of demands by stateless nations; European integration and globalization and their effects; immigration since the 1970s; the effects of nationalism on the former Soviet Union, Eastern Europe, and Yugoslavia.

Nationalism in Europe and America

This classic work on nationalism, originally published thirty years ago and now reissued with a new preface by the author, provides excellent historical and political background to the profusion of recent nationalist movements in Eastern Europe. Amid all the speculation and theorizing about nationalist currents, Hroch's empirically based study helps counter the impulse toward easy and spectacular generalizations and provides sound footing for an informed approach to the topic.