Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Nationalism has become the most prevalent source of political conflict and violence in the world. Scholarship has provided scant guidance about the prospects of containing the dark side of nationalism-its widely publicized excesses of violence, such as ethnic cleansing and genocide. 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. Containing Nationalism offers a unified explanation of the dynamics of nationalism across the broad sweep of time and space. Among other things, it explains why nationalism is supported by specific forms of inequality between cultural groups, and why it is inclusive at some times and exclusive at others. Nationalism is the attempt of culturally-distinct peoples to attain political self-determination. Self-determination was generally afforded by traditional states, which employed a form of governance based on indirect rule. After the late 18th century, the rise of the modern state led to a new form of governance characterized by direct rule. Containing Nationalism argues that the impetus for the most common type of nationalism arises from the imposition of direct rule in culturally heterogeneous societies. Direct rule stimulates national identity by making cultural distinctions more salient for individuals' life chances. At the same time it reduces the resources of local elites, giving them a motive to mobilize nationalist opposition to central authorities. All told, these effects heighten the demand for sovereignty. The book suggests that political institutions that reintroduce indirect rule offer the leaders of modern countries the best available means of containing nationalist violence within their borders.

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

• Nationalist Puzzles
• Causes of nationalism
• Indirect Rule and the Absence of Nationalism
• State-building Nationalism
• Other Types of Nationalism
• The Salience of National Identity
• The Demands for Sovereignty and the Emergence of Nationalism
• Containing Nationalism

Reviews provided by Syndetics

CHOICE Review

Relying on the voluminous literature published in the last few decades, Hechter (sociology, Univ. of Washington) focuses on the causes of nationalism, in an attempt to discover ways to attenuate its negative effects. Although he finds the literature riddled with contradictions--factors that lower the salience of national identity in some circumstances may heighten national consciousness in others--he concludes that nationalism is a product of specific events and social structures rather than of human nature. Therefore it can be modified if not eradicated. He recognizes the benign aspects of nationalism, such as its unifying and state-building functions, but his main concern is the "dark side" of nationalism--a source of violent conflict. He concludes that the best prospect for decreasing the demand for rational sovereignty lies in making the central state government accountable to national minorities. It is on this issue that the book is least satisfactory because it addresses only certain types of nationalist phenomena and so, also, is too limited in its prescriptions. Over 40 pages of notes supplement this slim volume. The book does not supplant such studies as Anthony Smith's several books (e.g. Nationalism and Modernism, CH, Oct'99), but it is a very useful introduction to a complex subject bound to continue to preoccupy observers. General readers through graduate students. R. P. Peters; University of Massachusetts at Boston

Author notes provided by Syndetics

MichaelHechterDepartment of SociologyUniversity of Washington, Seattle.