This book offers the most up-to-date survey of current perspectives and debates in the fields of nations and nationalism. It brings together a selected group of leading scholars in each of the sub-fields who offer a comprehensive and challenging approach to the study of nationalism. The authors represent a variety of outlooks which include history, sociology, politics, gender studies and ethnography while providing a wide coverage in historical and geographical terms.

Understanding Nationalism commemorates the tenth anniversary of the creation of the Association for the Study of Ethnicity and Nationalism and in so doing it undoubtedly marks the coming of age of nationalism as a subject for scholarly production and debate. All the authors have written pioneering studies on ethnicity and nationalism: Walker Connor and Steven Grosby on the primordial attachments of nationalists, John Armstrong and Anthony Smith on the historical and symbolic roots of nations, John Hutchinson and Kosaku Yoshino on cultural nationalism, John Breuilly on the relationship between state and nationalism, Crawford Young on the relationship between nation-states and cultural pluralism, Michael Mann on nationalism and politics, Nira Yuval-Davis on gender and nation and Montserrat Guibernau on contemporary nationalisms.

This volume will be indispensable for anyone interested in the phenomenon of nationalism today and will be widely recommended on courses in politics, sociology and related disciplines.

About the Author
Montserrat Guibernau is lecturer in Government and Politics at the Open University

John Hutchinson is lecturer in Nationalism in Europe at the London School of Economics and Political Science

Reviews
"The Value of the book lies in its versatility. For experts in the field it provides a nice overview of the current state of play within nationalism research...an excellent book well worth using for a course on nationalism." Jeffrey J. Cormier, The Canadian Journal of Sociology Online

'Because of its variety of disciplinary outlooks, its ability to link theoretical analysis to contemporary issues and its combination of keen academic debates and clear explanations of different approaches, frameworks and themes, Understanding Nationalism is an indispensible book for scholars working in the field and highly recommended for students dealing with the complex issues of nationalism and identity. This book shows the relevance of the study of nationalism to our understanding of the contemporary world and will probably become one of the seminal works on nationalism of the decade.' Studies in Ethnicity and Nationalism

"The result is worthy of applause and merits the attention of all serious scholars working in the field...the editors have succeeded in inspiring the creation of original, learned and interesting essays, written by well-established scholars whose mind seems forever to be expanding to encompass the most recent event, the most subtle movement. The reader is aware of being in the presence of greatness." Athena S.Leoussi, Ethnic and Racial studies

Book Information
ISBN 9780745624020
Author Montserrat Guibernau
Format Paperback
Page Count 304
Imprint Polity Press
Publisher John Wiley and Sons Ltd
Weight(grams) 397g
Dimensions(mm) 230mm * 156mm * 22mm