HIST 626B Nationalism in Europe and Beyond
How a nation is to be defined and who belongs to it has proved to be among the most painful and transformative issues in modern history, in Europe and beyond. The central assumption of ethnic nationalism that each state ought to represent a single culture, or ethnos, each of which requires its own state led to political reorganization, as multi-ethnic empires were replaced by nation states; to internal tensions; to mass expulsions, murder, and genocide; to the creation of masses of refugees; to the collapse or consolidation of democracy and of the welfare state; and to ongoing debates over ethnicity and immigration. Is nationalism a new, modern phenomenon, or is it the most recent form of a much older phenomenon of political ethnicity? Is national identity manufactured, or is it an expression of a more universal human propensity to distinguish between "us" and "them"? What degree of shared origin or culture does a nation require? This seminar explores these themes, drawing primarily on history, but also on other disciplines.