History And National Destiny: Ethnosymbolism and its Critics

This volume celebrates Anthony D. Smith’s path–breaking contribution to the study of nations and nationalism. It comprises a series of essays written by academics from the US, UK and Europe, debating various issues concerning Smith’s controversial ethnosymbolic approach. In discussing these issues, the contributors also open up new avenues of research. The book will be of value to all those interested in nations, nationalism and ethnicity in current times.

Introduction: History and National Destiny: Monterrey Guibernau (Open University) and John Hutchinson (London School of Economics). 1. Definitions, Periodization and Prospects for the Longue Duree: John A. Armstrong (retired from University of Wisconsin, Madison). 2. Covenant and Continuity: Ethno–Symbolism and the Myth of Divine Election: Bruce Cauthen. 3. The Timelessness of Nations: Walker Connor (Middlebury College). 4. Place, Kinship and the Case for Non–Ethnic Nations: Thomas Hylland Eriksen (University of Oslo). 5. ‘Dominant Ethnicity’ and the ‘Ethnic–Civic’ Dichotomy in the Work of A. D. Smith: Eric Kaufmann (Birkbeck College, University of London) and Oliver Zimmer (University of Durham). 6. Ethnicity and Supra–Ethnicity in Corpus Planning: The Hidden Status Agenda in Corpus Planning: Joshua A. Fishman (Yeshiva University, New York). 7. From Ethnic Group Toward the Modern Nation: The Czech Case: Miroslav Hroch (Charles University Prague). 8. Myth Against Myth: The Nation as Ethnic Overlay: John Hutchinson (London School of Economics). 9. Anthony D. Smith on Nations and National Identity: A Critical Assessment: Montserrat Guibernau (Open University). 10. The Ethno–Cultural Roots of National Art: Athena S. Leoussi (University of Reading). 11. Nationalism and Globalisation: Mary Kaldor. 12. Globalising National States: Stein Tønnesson (historian). 13. History and National Destiny: Responses and Clarifications: Anthony D. Smith (London School of Economics). Index.

Montserrat Guibernau is Reader in Politics at the Open University and holds a Leverhulme Trust Fellowship. She has previously taught at the universities of Cambridge, Warwick and Barcelona. Her publications include, Nationalisms (Polity, 1996), The Ethnicity Reader (with J. Rex, Polity, 1997), Nations without States (Polity, 1999), Governing European Diversity (2001), Understanding Nationalism (with J. Hutchinson, Polity, 2001) and The Accommodation of National Minorities in Democratic Plural Societies (with A. Gagnon and F. Rocher, 2003). John Hutchinson is Senior Lecturer in Nationalism in Europe in the Department of Government, London School of Economics and Political Science. His key interests are cultural nationalism, Irish nationalism, theories of nationalism, warfare and national identity.