Mapping the Nation (Mappings Series)

In nearly two decades since Samuel P. Huntington proposed his influential and troubling'clash of civilizations'thesis, nationalism has only continued to puzzle and frustrate commentators, policy analysts and political theorists. No consensus exists concerning its identity, genesis or future. Are we reverting to the petty nationalisms of the nineteenth century or evolving into a globalized, supranational world? Has the nation-state outlived its usefulness and exhausted its progressive and emancipatory role?Opening with powerful statements by Lord Acton and Otto Bauer - the classic liberal and socialist positions, respectively - Mapping the Nation presents a wealth of thought on this issue: the debate between Ernest Gellner and Miroslav Hroch; Gopal Balakrishnan's critique of Benedict Anderson's seminal Imagined Communities; Partha Chatterjee on the limitations of the Enlightenment approach to nationhood; and contributions from Michael Mann, Eric Hobsbawm, Tom Nairn, and J�rgen Habermas.

Part of Verso's classic Mapping series that collects the most important writings on key topics in a changing world

In nearly two decades since Samuel P. Huntingdon proposed his influential and troubling ‘clash of civilizations’ thesis, nationalism has only continued to puzzle and frustrate commentators, policy analysts, and political theorists. No consensus exists concerning its identity, genesis, or future. Are we reverting to the petty nationalisms of the nineteenth century or evolving into a globalized, supranational world? Has the nation-state outlived its usefulness and exhausted its progressive and emancipatory role?

Opening with powerful statements by Lord Acton and Otto Bauer—the classic liberal and socialist positions—Mapping the Nation presents a wealth of thought on this issue: the debate between Ernest Gellner and Miroslav Hroch; Gopal Balakrishnan’s critique of Benedict Anderson’s seminal Imagined Communities; Partha Chatterjee on the limitations of the Enlightenment approach to nationhood; and contributions from Michael Mann, Eric Hobsbawm, Tom Nairn, and Jürgen Habermas.

Nationality / Lord Acton The nation / Otto Bauer From national movement to the fully-formed nation : the nation-building process in Europe / Miroslav Hroch The coming of nationalism and its interpretation : the myth of nation and class / Ernest Gellner Approaches to nationalism / John Breuilly Nationalism and the historians / Anthony D. Smith The national imagination / Gopal Balakrishnan Whose imagined community? / Partha Chatterjee Whither 'nation' and 'nationalism'? / Katherine Verdery Woman and nation / Sylvia Walby Ethnicity and nationalism in Europe today / Eric J. Hobsbawm Internationalism and the second coming / Tom Nairn The European nation-state : its achievements and its limits. On the past and future of sovereignty and citizenship / Jürgen Habermas Nation-states in Europe and other continents : diversifying, developing, not dying / Michael Mann. Verso's classic Mapping series, published in association with New Left Review, collects the most important writings on key topics in a changing world and delineates the controversies among the most important scholars in each field.