Mapping the Nation (Mapping Series) [Paperback]

Benedict Anderson (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 1996 | ISBN-10: 1859840604 | ISBN-13: 978-1859840603

Few political phenomena have proved as confusing and difficult to comprehend as nationalism. There is no consensus on its identity, genesis or future. Are we, for example, in the process of being thrust back into a nineteenth-century world of competitive and aggressive great powers and petty nationalisms? Or are we being flung headlong into a new, globalized and supra-national millennium? Has the nation-state outlived its usefulness and exhausted its progressive and emancipatory role, or has nationalism always been implicated in an exclusivist ethnic and militaristic logic? Mapping the Nation seeks to address these and other questions about the nature and destiny of the 'national question' in the present epoch. A comprehensive and definitive reader on the subject, with contributions from some of the most significant and stimulating theorists of the nation-state, it presents a wide range of divergent ideas and controversies. Leading off with powerful statements of the classic liberal and socialist positions, by Lord Acton and Otto Bauer, there then follows an historical-sociological debate between the late Ernest Gellner and the Czech historian Miroslav Hroch, the one stressing the connections between nationalism and the transition away from agrarian society, the other emphasizing its variability and real anthropological basis. John Breuilly and Anthony D. Smith, two of the leading British specialists, provide a counterpoint to each other with considerations on the respective importance of political leadership and continuing ethnic communities in the construction of nationalist movements. Gopal Balakrishnan, in a carefully honed critique of Benedict Anderson's seminal Imagined Communities, and Partha Chatterjee, from the Subaltern Studies circle, offer crucial insights on the limitations of the Enlightenment approach to nationhood, as do Sylvia Walby and Katherine Verdery with their reflections on the entanglements of nation, gender and identity politics. Sociologist Michael Mann delivers an authoritative refutation of the chatter about the 'death of the nation-state'. Finally, relating the theoretical questions directly to the politics of our time, renowned historian Eric Hobsbawm, provocative theorist Tome Nairn, and the outstanding political philosopher Jurgen Habermas discuss, with varying degrees and pessimism, the future of the national project.

Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Verso (October 1, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1859840604
• ISBN-13: 978-1859840603
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #612,087 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It Gives us Useful Map and Compass for Labyrinth of "Nation", June 3, 2000

By 

Toshihiro Suzuki - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mapping the Nation (Mapping Series) (Hardcover)

Very good omnibus book for overviewing the historical and new question on "Nation." Through well-choosen texts from Lord Acton, Bauer to Gellner, Habermas, we can rightly step into the deep forest of the "Nation" and "Nationality" problem, which, we may say, effects even our everyday life. (But there is a regretful thing in this book---Otto Bauer's "Nation" is not a complete translation from the first chapter of his "Die Nationalitaetenfrage u. die Sozialdemokratie," 1924.)

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Compact History of Nationalism, April 12, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Mapping the Nation (Mapping Series) (Paperback)

_Mapping the Nation_ provides a collection of essays reflecting several schools of thought about the complex phenomenon of nationalism. It poses the questions: what is nationalism? how have scholarly perceptions of this phenomenon changed over time? what will it look like in the years to come?

This book provides no easy answers, opting instead for a thought-provoking variety of views; should be read by anyone interested in how national identities are constructed and shaped.