Introduction: A Postnationalist Era?

Abstract

This volume explores the various ways in which the nation-state as an organizational structure and nationalism as a motivating ideology are challenged by contemporary political realities, and how these challenges can be met. Nationalism has, of course, been a dominant political ideal for a very long time now. The received and still prevalent conceptualiza­tion of this ideal is that the state and the nation should cohere within a single, sovereign territory and that the nation-state thereby constituted should express, and ensure the continued expression of, a determinate national culture or identity. There have been many defenders of this ideal. For Mill (1861), for example, nationalism conceived in this manner was a basic condition of representative government, since only nation­alism could ensure the development of the ‘fellow-feeling’ or unifying culture necessary for the functioning of such government. Many have also argued that nationalism is a requirement of modern industrial socie­ties, since the common, homogeneous culture it helped generate proved decisive in the rise of an educated workforce essential for technologi­cal advancement, economic growth, prosperity, and progress generally (Gellner, 1983).