The Social Origins of Nationalist Movements

Nationalism has reemerged as one of the major issues in western European politics and society in the early 1990s. This timely volume brings the key theoretical perspectives to bear on the social context within which nationalist movements arise and evaluates the empirical evidence on this issue from a number of nationalist movements.

It presents case studies of particular regions or minorities within the context of a larger state including the Jura, Sardinia, Brittany, Scotland and Northern Ireland. In contrast, the Nordic region study illustrates a situation where the prerequisites of nationalist agitation are present, but where vigorous nationalist movements have been absent.