Despite many predictions made over the last two hundred years that nation-states and nationalism are transient phenomena that will eventually fade away, the historical record and contemporary events show otherwise. Nationalism still remains the most popular, potent and resilient ideological discourse and the nation-state the only legitimate mode of territorial rule.

This innovative and concise book provides an in-depth analysis of the processes involved in the emergence, formation, expansion and transformation of nation-states and nationalisms as they are understood today. Sinisa Malesevic examines the historical predecessors of nation-states (from hunting and gathering bands, through city-states, to modernizing empires) and explores the historical rise of organizational and ideological powers that eventually gave birth to the modern nation-state. The book also investigates the ways in which nationalist ideologies were able to envelop the microcosm of family, kin, residential and friendship networks. Other important topics covered along the way include: the relationships between nationalism and violence; the routine character of nationalist experience; and the impacts of globalization and religious revivals on the transformation of nationalisms and nation-states.

This insightful analysis of nationalisms and nation-states through time and space will appeal to scholars and students in sociology, politics, history, anthropology, international relations and geography.

About the Author
Sinisa Malesevic is professor of sociology at University College Dublin, Ireland, and a member of the Royal Irish Academy.

Reviews

"The book is an excellent, theoretically sophisticated yet eminently readable piece of literature, stimulating reflection and causing surprise with the non-obviousness of the reader's own deeply internalised convictions." (Social Space)

"Highly recommended" (Choice)

"Nation-states and nationalism remain hotly contested topics. What are they and where do they come from? Malesevic's approach is both original and arresting: to stress not culture or biological descent but organization, ideology, and transformations of solidarity. This casts the debate in a novel form, and is bound to give this book a wide and attentive readership."
-Krishan Kumar, University of Virginia

"Theoretically sophisticated yet eminently readable, this book provides an excellent introduction to the study of nationhood and nationalism."
-Rogers Brubaker, University of California, Los Angeles

Book Information
ISBN 9780745653396
Author Sinisa Malesevic
Format Paperback
Page Count 224
Imprint Polity Press
Publisher John Wiley and Sons Ltd
Weight(grams) 349g
Dimensions(mm) 210mm * 149mm * 20mm