The Cultural Foundations of Nations: Hierarchy, Covenant, and Republic

This major new work by Professor Anthony D. Smith challenges the notion of nationalism as a product of modernity. In a startling rejection of current orthodoxies, he demonstrates that different political forms of community and collective identity from pre–modern times have contributed to the formation of nations and determined the varied character of nations and nationalisms. His ideas derive from a life–time′s learning, distilled here into a concise, clear argument for scholars and novices alike.

Professor Smith identifies three main cultural traditions of antiquity: hierarchy, covenant and civic republic. He argues that these distinctive traditions retained their hold over the European educated classes from England to Russia and from Sweden to Spain. He analyzes the chronology and nature of nations, from the ancient world, to the European Middle Ages, the early modern, and the modern eras. He ends with a discussion of the alternative destinies facing modern nations as a result of their often multi–stranded character.

Preface.

Introduction: The Theoretical Debate.

1 The Concept and its Varieties.

2 Ethnic and Religious Roots.

3 Community in the Ancient World.

4 Hierarchical Nations.

5 Covenantal Nations.

6 Republican Nations.

7 Alternative Destinies.

Conclusion.

Notes.

References

Anthony D. Smith is President of the Association for the Study of Ethnicity and Nationalism at the London School of Economics and Political Science. He is author of numerous works on nationalism including The Ethnic Origins of Nations (Blackwell, 1986), Chosen Peoples: Sacred Sources of National Identity (2003) and The Antiquity of Nations (2004). He is also the Editor–in–Chief of the journal Nations and Nationalism.

"This book bears the unmistakable hallmarks of a work by Anthony D. Smith. The theme, the breadth of cases covered, generous sprinkles of insights from history of art and measured critiques of modernist positions are all Anthony D. Smith par excellence. There are no nasty surprises and the reader can simply sit back and let his/her mind wander off to enjoy the intellectual tour under Smith′s sure guidance."  ( European History Quarterly, 2011)

Smith s attempt to reintegrate pre–modern history into the study of nations and nationalism is certainly to be welcomed, as it highlights the degree to which even modern nationalism draws on cultural practices and ideological concepts that are indeed of very old origin. ( Journal of Contemporary History, July 2009)

"In its organization, theory, and scholarship, the book is outstanding." (CHOICE)