Nationalism: the instrumental passion

Abstract

Marxists and Communist parties have had difficulty understanding nationalism and dealing with nationalist movements. Neither they, nor Weberian theorists, have been able to understand the ‘passion’ engendered by nationalism—a passion which drives people to die for their nation. In this review of two books on nationalism, one by a Weberian, the other within the Marxist tradition, Gavin Kitching identifies the beginnings of a materialist theory of consciousness which partially explains the power of nationalist passions. The two books are: Imagined communities: reflections on the origin and spread of nationalism by Benedict Anderson (London, Verso, 1983) and Nations and nationalism by Ernest Gellner (Oxford, Basil Blackwell, 1983).

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