Ethnicity and modern nations

This article presents a view of nations as dynamic, long term historical collectivities that structure the forms of modernity. It rejects dominant modernist models of nation-formation because they tend to conflate nation with nation-state, to regard nations as homogeneous societies, and to depict nation-formation in linear terms as an outgrowth of modernization. Nation-formation in the modern world has an episodic character. By examining the ethnic character of modern nations in la longue duree, we can identify more convincing recurring causes of national revivals, the role of persisting cultural differences within nations, and the fluctuating salience of national identities with respect to other social allegiances. This analysis throws light on the vexed questions of relationships between national identity and globalization.