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bahareads 's review for:
Nationalism: A Short History
by Liah Greenfeld
Nationalism's main theme is Nationalism is the history of equality, good, and bad. Equality is the essential value of nationalism and therefore nationalism is inherently democratic. Greenfeld splits this book into five chapters with a focus on countries and the themes they bring to nationalism. The chapters are as follows - England: the beginning of nationalism, France: Nationalism was made pan-European by them, Russia + USA: launched Nationalism worldwide & the three types of nationalism, Transformation: the types of democracy and what they bring, and the final chapter: globalization of nationalism and Asia.
Never studying nationalism on a serious level before Nationalism: a short history is intriguing. Greenfeld raises many questions in my mind about how nationalism is spread. Her book is very eurocentric while in the introduction she talks about how there are only three populations who preserved their cultural integrity in the 2,500 years (Chinese, Indians, and Jews), she doesn't give much explanation on it in the end as to why their cohesive continuity would not be considered nationalism in a sense. I do get what Greenfeld is trying to go for but as a whole, I feel like non-European cultures are very much excluded.
The main types of nationalism touched in here are
individualistic/civic - USA & Great Britain (population has autonomy)
collectivistic/civic - France (population doesn't have autonomy but it does have a say in civics)
collectivistic/ethnic - Russia (no autonomy across the board)
*The author is born in Russia during the USSR era so that's important to keep in mind during reading her chapter on Russia.
"Nationalism is a defining factor of our world: it defines the existential experience." According to Greenfeld, Nationalism's appeal is for everyone to have personal identity and dignity. Different ideologies, political and economic regimes such as communism, populism, socialism are just different examples of the same root (nationalism).
Overall Nationalism: a Short History is an informative read that can expand your worldview while sparking the idea in your mind "what is nationalism?"
Never studying nationalism on a serious level before Nationalism: a short history is intriguing. Greenfeld raises many questions in my mind about how nationalism is spread. Her book is very eurocentric while in the introduction she talks about how there are only three populations who preserved their cultural integrity in the 2,500 years (Chinese, Indians, and Jews), she doesn't give much explanation on it in the end as to why their cohesive continuity would not be considered nationalism in a sense. I do get what Greenfeld is trying to go for but as a whole, I feel like non-European cultures are very much excluded.
The main types of nationalism touched in here are
individualistic/civic - USA & Great Britain (population has autonomy)
collectivistic/civic - France (population doesn't have autonomy but it does have a say in civics)
collectivistic/ethnic - Russia (no autonomy across the board)
*The author is born in Russia during the USSR era so that's important to keep in mind during reading her chapter on Russia.
"Nationalism is a defining factor of our world: it defines the existential experience." According to Greenfeld, Nationalism's appeal is for everyone to have personal identity and dignity. Different ideologies, political and economic regimes such as communism, populism, socialism are just different examples of the same root (nationalism).
Overall Nationalism: a Short History is an informative read that can expand your worldview while sparking the idea in your mind "what is nationalism?"