Beyond the Nation? Or Back to It? Current Trends in the Sociology of Nations and Nationalism. (December 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Chernilo, Daniel
• Other Names: May Vanessa guest-editor.; Byrne Bridget guest-editor.; Holmes Helen guest-editor.; Takhar Shaminder guest-editor.
• Is Part Of: Sociology. Volume 54:Number 6(2020)
• Page Start: 1072
• Page End: 1087
• Publication Date: 2020-12
• Subjects: cosmopolitanism -- globalisation -- methodological nationalism -- modernism -- nation-state -- primordialism; Sociology -- Periodicals; Sociology -- Periodicals; Sociologie -- Périodiques; Sociologie; Electronic journals; 301.05
• DOI: 10.1177/0038038520949831
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0038-0385

Abstract

This article critically reviews three of the most significant debates in the sociology of nations and nationalism over the past 50 years: (1) the problem of methodological nationalism on the main features of nation-states; (2) the tension between primordialism and modernism in understanding the historicity of nations; and (3) the politics of nationalism between universalism and particularism. These three debates help us clarify some key theses in our long-term understanding of nations and nationalism: processes of nation and nation-state formation are not opposed to but compatible with the rise of globalisation and non-state forms of governance; the question 'when is a nation?' combines modern and pre-modern dimensions; the politics of nationalism is neither unfailingly democratic nor exclusively regressive. A key paradox that unfolds is that all nations invest heavily in the production and reproduction of their own exceptionalism.