Nationalism and Globalisation

Abstract

AbstractThis article argues that the current wave of nationalism has to be understood as a response to globalisation and not as evidence for the enduring nature of the national idea, as Smith suggests. It defends the modernist paradigm as a way of explaining nationalism and emphasises the role of war in the construction of nationalism. It puts forward an explanation for the current wave of nationalism in terms of changes in the division of labour, in communications and in war and it describes the key characteristics of what the author calls the 'new nationalism'. The final section defends the idea of a cosmopolitan or European identity.