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. Miroslav Hroch develops and demonstrates empirically the concept of a three-stage process of nationalist mobilization: heightened cultural awareness of national distinctiveness among intellectuals and literati, a concept of nationalism as a political program, and mass mobilization on behalf of this doctrine. Hroch shows how the character of a state's nationalism is shaped by the timing of each of these phases in relation to other social transformations, especially economic changes. Amid all the speculation and theorizing about the nationalist currents in contemporary Eastern Europe (as well as in other regions), 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.

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.

About the Author
Miroslav Hroch is professor at the Seminar for General History, Charles University, Prague.


Book Information
ISBN 9780231117715
Author Miroslav Hroch
Format Paperback
Page Count 220
Imprint Columbia University Press
Publisher Columbia University Press