Encountering Nationalism

Encountering Nationalism introduces students to concepts of nationalism in an accessible, critical, and timely way. It provides an overview of the central theories, aspects, and inconsistencies of nationalism. The book explores the promises and pitfalls of nationalism, its cultural and political aspects, and its revolutionary and repressive possibilities. The chapters are organized around the importance of the state, race, gender, sexuality, and ethnicity to nationalism, and the future of nationalism. Abstract arguments are bolstered by clear and specific examples drawn from momentous events and from the well of everyday life, such as the aftermath of September 11, beauty pageants, ethnic conflicts, and sexual respectability. Encountering Nationalism is an engaging introduction to the diverse meanings of nationalism and its most important aspects.

Acknowledgments. Introduction. Parades, Flags, and National Pride. Vexed Links: Perspectives on Nationalism, the State, and Modernity. Fraught Legacies: Nationalism, Colonialism, and Race. Redoubtable Essences: Nationalisms and Genders. Checking (Homo)Sexualities at the Nation’s Door: Nationalisms and Sexualities. In the Name of God, Community, and Country: Nationalisms, Ethnicity, and Religion. Conclusion. Speculations on the Future of Nationalisms. Index.

Jyoti Puri is Associate Professor of Sociology at Simmons College. She is the author of Woman, Body, Desire in Post–Colonial India: Narratives of Gender and Sexuality (1999).

"Puri is particularly good at demonstrating the extent to which nationalisms are gendered ... The book is an interpretative essay that seeks to realign debate on its subject. In this it is challenging and interesting." Ethnic and Racial Studies "The book explicitly discusses the wide array of debates centered around the theme of nationalism and therefore acts as a work that provides a seminal undersatnding of the issue of nationalism." International Journal of Contemporary Sociology "This is a wonderful entry point for students and faculty trying to get a grip on the often slippery but politically fraught idea, and practice, of nationalism. Puri puts earlier discussions of nationalism into a post–September 11 focus. Moreover, she brings the ongoing debates about the nature and uses of nationalism up to date by showing how central to nationalism are presumptions about women, and sexuality." – Cynthia Enloe, Clark University "This is a thoughtful introduction to the field of nationalism. It successfully analyzes the gendered and sexual dimensions of nationalist projects, and contextualizes them within global, economic, and political relations of power during the colonial period and the present day." – Nira Yuval–Davis, University of East London