Description
Book SynopsisNationalism has become the most prevalent source of political conflict and violence in the world. Scholarship has provided scant guidance about the prospects of containing the dark side of nationalism-its widely publicized excesses of violence, such as ethnic cleansing and genocide. Departing from the usual practice of considering only a few examples of nationalism drawn from a limited geographical and historical canvas, this book is based on fundamental theoretical ideas about the formation and solidarity of groups. Containing Nationalism offers a unified explanation of the dynamics of nationalism across the broad sweep of time and space. Among other things, it explains why nationalism is largely confined to modern history, why it is supported by specific forms of inequality between cultural groups, and why it is inclusive at sometimes and exclusive at others.Nationalism is the attempt of culturally-distinct peoples to attain political self-determination. Self-determination was genera
Trade ReviewHechter has written more for the advanced scholar of nationalism studies and cognate fields. He is already an established name in the field ... Hechter's argument has considerable merits. * The Global Review of Ethnopolitics *
Chapter 2 'Causes of Nationalism', is concise, managing to provide explanations for group formation, group solidarity, the modernity of nations and national identification ... the striking feature is that the author is able to usefully clarify in only fourteen pages what so many others take entire books to do. * The Global Review of Ethnopolitics *
Containing Nationalism is a trenchant discussion of a problem that shows little sign of abating. Even more, however, it is a thoughtful attempt by a veteran observer to offer a theoretical analysis with very practical implications. This book will be indispensable for academics and policymakers alike. * Contemporary Sociology *
Table of ContentsNationalist Puzzels ; Causes of Nationalism ; Indirect Rule and the Absence of nationalism ; State-Building Nationalism ; Other Types of Nationalism ; The Demand for Sovereignty and the Emergence of Nationalism ; Containing Nationalism
