In recent years nationalism has emerged as a dominant issue of our time. This is a balanced account of the key points of a subject which is too often obscured by polemic.

In recent years nationalism has emerged as one of the dominant issues of our time. In this lucid and balanced account, David McCrone lays out the key issues and debates around a subject which is too often obscured by polemic. Among topics covered are: * classical and contemporary theories of nationalism * nationalism and ethnicity * nationalism and the nation state * colonial and post-colonial nationalisms * neo nationalism and post communist nationalism.

In recent years nationalism has emerged as a dominant issue of our time. This is a balanced account of the key points of a subject which is too often obscured by polemic.

Why has nationalism proved so durable? What are the roots of its appeal? This sharp and accessible book slices through the myths surrounding nationalism and provides an important new perspective on this perennial subject. The book argues that: nationalism is persistent, not merely because of its specific ideological appeal, but because it expresses some of the major conflicts in modernity; nationalism reflects and reinforces four key trends in western social development: state formation, democratization, capitalism and the rationalization of culture; the forms of nationalism can be organized into a comprehensive typology which is outlined in the course of this study; post-nationalism and cosmopolitanism are significant innovations in the debate about nation-states and nationalism; and that the new radical nationalisms have become powerful new movements in the global age.

Nationalism is a movement and a state of mind that brings together national identity, consciousness, and collectivities. A five-country study that spans five hundred years, this historically oriented work in sociology bids well to replace all previous works on the subject.

Spencer and Wollman seek to challenge fixed notions of national identity, ethnicity and culture to more fully explore and understand the contemporary complexities of citizenship and the genuine potential for a cosmopolitan democracy.

Classical Sociology Beyond Methodological Nationalism defends classical sociology from the accusation of ‘methodological nationalism’. To reject such accusation, the volume presents three arguments. The first contends that classical sociology has not failed to deal with the global world (Part I). The second, that classical sociology has more frequently dealt with the transnational category of the ‘social’, rather than with the ‘national’ (Part II). The third, that where classical sociology has analysed national society, the latter has never been envisaged as a rigidly confined entity within its political boundaries (Part III). The outcome is a re-evaluation of classical sociological thought as a more functional tool for analysing the political forms of modernity in the era of globalisation. Contributors include: Vittorio Cotesta, David Inglis, Austin Harrington, Massimo Pendenza, Michael Schillmeier, Emanuela Susca, Dario Verderame, and Federico Trocini.