Main description:
What is a nation and why is nationalism widespread in the world now? In this book Paul James argues that `nation' and `nationalism' are two of the most undertheorized and misunderstood concepts in the contemporary world.
The author guides the reader through the theoretical contributions of Marx, Durkheim, Weber, Gellner, Nairn and Giddens, demonstrating the strengths and weaknesses of their arguments. This theoretical survey is threaded into a discussion of recent political crises such as the war in Bosnia and the genocide in Rwanda. Throughout, the aim is not to rediscover the concepts of `nation' and `nationalism' but to use classical and contemporary approaches to offer a new way of theorizing. James argues that the nation is an abstract and contradictory community. The result is a powerful book which operates as an overview of the key writings in the field and also gives a distinctive twist to the debate.
Table of contents:
Introduction
PART ONE: OLD AND NEW LINES OF UNDERSTANDING
The Nation as an Abstract Community
National Formation in Theory
PART TWO: CLASSICAL THEORY
Marx and Engels
`Seeing through the Veil?'
Durkheim and Weber
The Antinomies of Abstract Nationalism
PART THREE: CONTEMPORARY THEORY
National Formation and the Janus Faces of History
A Critique of Marxism
Nation Formation and the `Rise of the Cultural'
A Critique of Liberal Sociology
Nation Formation and the Instituting State
A Critique of Structuration
Themes for a Theory of the Nation
What is a nation and why is nationalism widespread in the world now? In this book Paul James argues that `nation' and `nationalism' are two of the most undertheorized and misunderstood concepts in the contemporary world.
The author guides the reader through the theoretical contributions of Marx, Durkheim, Weber, Gellner, Nairn and Giddens, demonstrating the strengths and weaknesses of their arguments. This theoretical survey is threaded into a discussion of recent political crises such as the war in Bosnia and the genocide in Rwanda. Throughout, the aim is not to rediscover the concepts of `nation' and `nationalism' but to use classical and contemporary approaches to offer a new way of theorizing. James argues that the nation is an abstract and contradictory community. The result is a powerful book which operates as an overview of the key writings in the field and also gives a distinctive twist to the debate.
Table of contents:
Introduction
PART ONE: OLD AND NEW LINES OF UNDERSTANDING
The Nation as an Abstract Community
National Formation in Theory
PART TWO: CLASSICAL THEORY
Marx and Engels
`Seeing through the Veil?'
Durkheim and Weber
The Antinomies of Abstract Nationalism
PART THREE: CONTEMPORARY THEORY
National Formation and the Janus Faces of History
A Critique of Marxism
Nation Formation and the `Rise of the Cultural'
A Critique of Liberal Sociology
Nation Formation and the Instituting State
A Critique of Structuration
Themes for a Theory of the Nation