| Synopsis: |
Since the end of the internationalist Soviet experiment in 1989, nationalism is now recognized as a positive, vital force in modern political, cultural and social life - if kept in check from excess. As a result of the explosion of nationalism, there has been a veritable resurgence of nationalism studies. This proliferation calls for a survey of instruments which have been developed by scholars for the study of nationalism. This encyclopaedia brings together scholars in nationalism studies to survey this complex phenomenon. With over 100 entries, the encyclopaedia offers a concise set of tools for the study of nationalism in a single volume. The focus throughout is theoretical, and for this reason particular nationalist movements and individual leaders are treated only as illustrative historical and contemporary cases in numerous entries. It is organized in an alphabetical sequence of entries, each of which includes a short bibliography for further reading. The reader will find in-depth discussions of the works of modern theoreticians of nationalism. The defining figures of the 18th and 19th centuries include Herder, Rousseau, Fichte, Marx and Renan.Conceptual entries are treated historically and sociologically. Crucial influential ideas and phenomena that continually redefine themselves with changing historical circumstances, among them, anti-Semitism, art and nationalism, assimilation, class and nation, decolonization, ethnic competition, genocide, language and nation, multiculturalism, religion and nation, state and nation, and xenophobia are treated in depth. A special attraction of this volume is its essay-long entries, many of which have been written by the scholars who developed them. The encyclopaedia discusses in lucid terms, from an interdisciplinary perspective, the central issues, debates, concepts and theories available to students and scholars of nationalism. As such it offers a comprehensive and authoritative guide to the subject in all its varied manifestations and implications. It should be a useful tool for historians, political scientists, sociologists and scholars of the history of ideas. |