Nations and Nationalism in a Global Era

This book provides an original approach to the study of nationalism of relevance to the current debates concerning the nation state and its anticipated demise and to the debates concerning panEuropeanism. Preface.

Introduction.

1. A Cosmopolitan Culture?.

2. The Modernist Fallacy.

3. An Ethno-National Revival?.

4. The Crisis of the National State.

5. Supra- or Super-Nationalism?.

6. In Defence of the Nation.

Notes.

Bibliography.

Index.

"[This book's thesis] is argued in a cogent, driving style and with tireless attention to the realities of modern life." Times Literary Supplement

"Smith has much to say and he makes his key points in a forceful and clear manner ... Smith's analysis has the value that it helps to highlight a number of the reasons for the vitality of nationalism and to raise questions which require further research and analysis." International Affairs

"An even-handed and dispassionate discussion. Anthony Smith is the foremost scholar of nationalism in this country, and in this relatively short book he distils a considerable quantity of his formidable theoretical and historical knowledge of the phenomenon. Whatever one's attitude to nationalism, one is likely to find much to engage one's interest here. Smith's book is both a spirited rendering of a position, and a splendid stimulus to thought, in both domains." Sociology

"Timely, for globalisation puts in question the functionality, pervasiveness and moral claims of the principle of nationality." Times Higher Educational Supplement

"Smith's book is a timely review of important developments which have taken place in the 1990s and the scholarship which has attempted to explain them. It is a welcome addition to the literature." International Journal of Cultural Studies

Anthony David Stephen Smith was a British historical sociologist who, at the time of his death, was Professor Emeritus of Nationalism and Ethnicity at the London School of Economics. He is considered one of the founders of the interdisciplinary field of nationalism studies. In a world of transnational economics and mass communications, ethnic conflict and nationalism have recently re-emerged as major political forces. Is this due to the advance of modernity? Will a global culture supersede nationalism? In fact, the revolution of modernity has revitalized ethnic memories and communities, as people look for stability and meaning in an age of unprecedented change and return to their ethnic heritages.
Ethnic nationalism challenges, but also reinforces the national state. By comparison, supra-national ideals seem vague and pale, and the dream of a cosmopolitan global culture is utopian. For all its shortcomings, Anthony Smith argues, the nation and its nationalism is likely to remain the only realistic and widespread popular ideal of community.