Nationalism has become a prevalent source of conflict and violence in the world. Scholarship has provided scant guidance about the prospect of containing its dark side. Departing from the usual practice of considering only a few examples of nationalism drawn from a limited geographical and historical canvas, this book is based on fundamental theoretical ideas about the formation and solidarity of groups. More specifically, Containing Nationalism offers a unified explanation of nationalism across the broad sweep of time and space. Among other things, it explains why nationalism is largely confi ... More

Nationalism has become a prevalent source of conflict and violence in the world. Scholarship has provided scant guidance about the prospect of containing its dark side. Departing from the usual practice of considering only a few examples of nationalism drawn from a limited geographical and historical canvas, this book is based on fundamental theoretical ideas about the formation and solidarity of groups. More specifically, Containing Nationalism offers a unified explanation of nationalism across the broad sweep of time and space. Among other things, it explains why nationalism is largely confined to modern history, why it is supported by specific forms of inequality between cultural groups, and why it is inclusive at some times and exclusive at others.