Critical Approaches to the Study of Nationalism
Phd Course
2 Credits
Instructors: Michael L. Miller and András Pap
Course description:
This course will examine scholarly approaches to the study of nationalism, drawing on a wide range of theoretical and empirical literature, beginning with discussions of key concepts and classical debates in nationalism studies, followed by an exploration of more recent methodological considerations regarding the study of nationalism, ethnicity, and group identity. In particular, the course will draw on literature from sociology, gender studies, international relations, political science, history, and law, offering a critical and interdisciplinary approach to the study of nationalism. This course is required for students pursuing a Minor in Nationalism Studies in the Doctoral School of Political Science, Public Policy and International Relations.
Requirements:
Students registered for this course are expected to attend classes and actively participate in class discussions. Students must read mandatory readings and give presentations on the recommended readings. Class presentations should critically analyze and contextualize the assigned readings, drawing on literature not listed in the syllabus. Students are encouraged to assess the implications of the presented theories through relevant case studies.
Students are to write an extended review essay (4,000 words) on a recent book related to the course. Possible titles will be suggested, but students are also welcome to recommend monographs for review. These review essays should aim for a publishable quality; if this requirement is met, instructors will provide assistance for seeking out potential journals.
Course evaluation:
Class participation: 25%
Class presentations: 25%
Review essay: 50%
September 20
Class 1: Introduction
Rogers Brubaker, Mara Loveman and Peter Stamatov. “Ethnicity as Cognition” Theory and Society 33/1 (2004): 31-64.
Rogers Brubaker. “Myths and Misconceptions in in the Study of Nationalism.” In John Hall, ed., The State of the Nation: Ernest Gellner and the Theory of Nationalism . Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998, 272-305.
September 27
Class 2: Typologies of Nationalism
Hans Kohn, “Western and Eastern Nationalism.” In John Hutchinson and Anthony Smith, eds., Ethnicity . New York: Oxford University Press, 1997, 162-164.
Anthony Smith, “The Varieties of Nationalism.” In Theories of Nationalism . New York: Holmes & Meiner Manchester, 1983, 211-229.
Benedict Anderson, “Western Nationalism and Eastern Nationalism,” New Left Review (May-June 2001), 31-42.
October 4
Class 3: The Modernist Turn
Benedict Anderson, Imagined Communities. Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism . London: Verso, 1983, 1-46.
Thomas Nairn, “The Break-Up of Britain.” In Crisis and Neo-Nationalism , 330-341.
Eric Hobsbawm, “Introduction. Inventing Traditions.” In The Invention of Tradition (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992), 1-14.
October 11
Class 4: Banal Nationalism and Everyday Nationalism
Michael Billig, “Remembering Banal Nationalism,” in Banal Nationalism . London: Sage, 1995, pp. 37-59.
Michael Skey, “The National in Everyday Life: A Critical Engagement with Michael Billig’s Thesis of Banal Nationalism,” The Sociological Review 57/2 (2009), 331-346.
Michael Billig, “Reflecting on a Critical Engagement with Banal Nationalism – Reply to Skey,” The Sociological Review 57/2 (2009), 347-352. Jon Fox and Cynthia Miller-Idriss, “Everyday Nationalism,” Ethnicities 8 (2008), 536-563.
October 18
Class 5: Gender Studies and Nationalism I
Anne McClintock, “Family Feuds: Gender, Nationalism and the Family,” Feminist Review 44 (Summer 1993), 61-80.
V. Spike Peterson, “Sexing Political Identities: Nationalism as Heterosexism,” International Feminist Journal of Politics 1/1 (June 1999), 34-65.
October 25
Class 6: Gender Studies and Nationalism II [Guest: Elissa Helms, Department of Gender Studies]
Wendy Bracewell, “Rape in Kosovo: Masculinity and Serbian Nationalism,” Nations and Nationalism 6/1 (2000), 563-90.
Elissa Helms, “Rejecting Angelina: Bosnian War Rape Survivors and the Ambiguities of Sex in War,” Slavic Review 73/1 (Fall 2014), 612-634.
November 8
Class 7: International Relations and Nationalism I
J.B.L. Mayall and J. Jackson-Preece, Nationalism and International Relations. London: UCL, 2011, 27-36.
Florian Bieber and Erin Jenne, “Situational Nationalism: Nation-Building in the Balkans, Subversive Institutions and the Montenegrin Paradox,” Ethnopolitics Vol 13, Issue 5 (October 2014), 431-460.
November 15
Class 8: International Relations and Nationalism II [Guest: Erin Jenne, Department of International Relations]
Ghița Ionescu and Ernest Gellner, Populism: Its Meanings and National Characteristics. New York: Macmillan, 1969, XXX-XXX.
Erin Jenne, "Nationalism, Populism and Foreign Policy in Postcommunist Europe" (Draft paper)
November 22
Class 9: Legal Studies and Nationalism I Hurst Hannum: International Law, Encyclopedia of Nationalism, 405-419
Georg Brunne and Herbert Küpper, “European Options of Autonomy: A Typology of Autonomy Models of Minority Self-Governments,” in Gál Kinga Gál, ed., Minority governance in Europe . Budapest: LGI & ECMI, 2002, 11-37.
Will Kymlicka, Multicultural Citizenship, Individual Rights and Collective Rights , pp. 34-48
Bhiku Parekh, "Logic of Intercultural Evaluation," in Bhikhu Parekh, Rethinking Multiculturalism. Cultural Diversity and Political Theory . Harvard University Press, 2000., 264-265
Christopher McCrudden, “Thinking about the Discrimination Directives,” European Anti-Discrimination Law Review no. 1 (April 2005), 17–21.
November 29
Class 10: Legal Studies and Nationalism II
Rogers Brubaker, “The Dolezal affair: race, gender, and the micropolitics of identity,” Ethnic and Racial Studies 39/3 (2015), 414-448.
Andras L. Pap, “Is there a legal right to free choice of ethno-racial identity? Legal and political difficulties in defining minority communities and membership boundaries,” Columbia Human Rights Law Review . 46/3 (2015), 153-232.
December 6.
Class 11: Book Presentations