Nationalism and National Identities.

• Author: Malesevic, Sinisa
• Position: Book review

Nationalism and National Identities

Edited by Martin Bulmer and John Solomos

London: Routledge, 2012, 159 pages, ISBN 9780415686334.

There is a strong tendency among public commentators and many scholars to view nationalism as a phenomenon of yesteryears. Hence the 19th and beginning of 20th centuries are usually identified as the heyday of nationalist movements, whereas much of the 20th and the beginning of this century are analysed through the prism of apparently more universalist ideologies: liberalism, socialism, conservatism, religious fundamentalism, anarchism, fascism or racism. The past two decades are in particular viewed as being characterised by the strong forms of universalist creeds: the world-wide proliferation of the neo-liberal doctrines and practices; the ever increasing globalisation of the economy, politics and culture; the intensive expansion of cosmopolitanism, individualism and transnational identities; and conspicuous religious revivals. However, despite all these major organisational and ideological transformations that have taken place nationalism did not vanish. On the contrary, nationalist doctrines and practices have demonstrated resilience and ability to adapt to different political and economic conditions and to co-exist with very different belief systems. Hence, nationalist discourses were crucial for the justification of the communist rule in Romania of the 20th century and in Stroessner's right wing dictatorship in Paraguay just as they were in the democratic USA and France. This has not changed dramatically in this century as the strong nationalist sentiments underpin such diverse political orders as Islamist Iran, communist North Korea, and liberal Denmark. Nationalism remains a potent source of popular legitimacy.

The significance and omnipresence of nationalism in different historical contexts and diverse political environments is well elaborated in this edited collection. The authors provide rich empirical analyses of nationalist ideas and practices in several regions of the world including the Balkans, Iberia, the Caucasus, Central Asia, the Middle East, Western Africa and Latin America. Thus J. O'Loughlin and G. O'Tuathail compare and contrast the results of large-scale surveys of popular attitudes towards the ethno-national separatism in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the North Caucasus. They find Bosnian ethnic groups more inclined towards separatism than those in the Caucasus. Interestingly enough this...