This timely study examines the processes by which modern states are created within multiethnic societies. How are national identities forged from countries made up of peoples with different and often conflicting cultures, languages, and histories? How successful is this process? What is lost and gained from the emergence of national identities? Natividad Gutiérrez examines the development of the modern Mexican state to address these difficult questions. She describes how Mexican national identity has been and is being created and evaluates the effectiveness of that process of state-building. Her investigation is distinguished by a critical consideration of cross-cultural theories of nationalism and the illuminating use of a broad range of data from Mexican culture and history, including interviews with contemporary indigenous intellectuals and students, an analysis of public-school textbooks, and information gathered from indigenous organizations. Gutiérrez argues that the modern Mexican state is buttressed by pervasive nationalist myths of foundation, descent, and heroism. These myths--expressed and reinforced through the manipulation of symbols, public education, and political discourse--downplay separate ethnic identities and work together to articulate an overriding nationalist ideology. The ideology girding the Mexican state has not been entirely successful, however. This study reveals that indigenous intellectuals and students are troubled by the relationship between their nationalist and ethnic identities and are increasingly questioning official policies of integration.

Myths are a major, universal sociological mechanism which is still rather poorly understood Demonstrates the relevance and the potential of myths as a research area Provides a timely shift in the usual focus of national studies, which typically centers on ethnicity, immigration, integration, citizenship, cultural diversity and nationalism Demonstrates the nature and the functioning of myths in contemporary societies, as a nexus of meanings that feed identities, memory and utopias Contributions from international authors

Nations and nationalism remain powerful phenomena in the contemporary world. Why do they continue to inspire such passion and attachments? Myths and Memories of the Nation explores the roots of nationalism by examining the myths, symbols and memories of the nation through a 'ethno-symbolic' approach. The book reveals the continuing power of myth and memory to mobilise, define and shape people and their destinies. It examines the variety and durability of ethnic attachments and national identities, and assesses the contemporary revival of ethnic conflicts and nationalism. The book analyses the depth of ethnic attachments and the persistence of nations to this day.

Myths are central to the way we live and how we define ourselves. In this pioneering book, a group of specialists--among them Anthony Smith, Norman Davies, Geoffrey Hosking and George Schopflin--look at the general and theoretical nature of myth on a universal basis and examine the specific myths of various nations. With nationhood and ethnicity at the centre of political attention, the book is timely in illuminating the deeper, underlying issues of nationalism that cause so much conflict throughout the world.

"The wars in Bosnia-Herzegovina and in neighboring Croatia and Kosovo grabbed the attention of the western world not only because of their ferocity and their geographic location, but also because of their timing. This violence erupted at the exact moment when the cold war confrontation was drawing to a close, when westerners were claiming their liberal values as triumphant, in a country that had only a few years earlier been seen as very well placed to join the west. In trying to account for this outburst, most western journalists, academics, and policymakers have resorted to the language of the premodern: tribalism, ethnic hatreds, cultural inadequacy, irrationality; in short, the Balkans as the antithesis of the modern west. Yet one of the most striking aspects of the wars in Yugoslavia is the extent to which the images purveyed in the western press and in much of the academic literature are so at odds with evidence from on the ground."—from The Myth of Ethnic War V. P. Gagnon Jr. believes that the Yugoslav wars of the 1990s were reactionary moves designed to thwart populations that were threatening the existing structures of political and economic power. He begins with facts at odds with the essentialist view of ethnic identity, such as high intermarriage rates and the very high percentage of draft-resisters. These statistics do not comport comfortably with the notion that these wars were the result of ancient blood hatreds or of nationalist leaders using ethnicity to mobilize people into conflict. Yugoslavia in the late 1980s was, in Gagnon's view, on the verge of large-scale sociopolitical and economic change. He shows that political and economic elites in Belgrade and Zagreb first created and then manipulated violent conflict along ethnic lines as a way to short-circuit the dynamics of political change. This strategy of violence was thus a means for these threatened elites to demobilize the population. Gagnon's noteworthy and rather controversial argument provides us with a substantially new way of understanding the politics of ethnicity.

Discover the profound impact of national myths on political identities with National Myth, a vital part of the Political Science series. This book explains how national narratives shape collective memory and influence political landscapes across different cultures. Chapters Brief Overview: 1: National Myth – National myths shape political identities and societal norms. 2: Nation – Explore the formation and perception of nations. 3: Romantic Nationalism – Examine romantic nationalism’s cultural and political role. 4: Nationalism – Understand the spectrum and historical context of nationalism. 5: Religious Nationalism – Religion’s role in shaping national identities. 6: German Nationalism – Explore the development of German nationalism. 7: Nationalist Historiography – History narratives supporting nationalist agendas. 8: Civic Nationalism – Civic nationalism’s focus on shared values. 9: Types of Nationalism – Different forms of nationalism and their implications. 10: Branding National Myths and Symbols – How nations use symbols to promote myths. 11: Nation State – The significance of nation-states in political theory. 12: Chinese Nationalism – Explore contemporary Chinese nationalism. 13: Juche – North Korea’s Juche ideology and its national impact. 14: Syrian Nationalism – The evolution of Syrian nationalism amid conflict. 15: Albanian Nationalism – Explore Albanian nationalism’s cultural and political role. 16: John Hutchinson (Academic) – Hutchinson’s theoretical insights on nationalism. 17: Ethnosymbolism – Ethnosymbolism’s role in constructing national myths. 18: What Is a Nation? – Different interpretations of what constitutes a nation. 19: Myth of Skanderbeg – The Skanderbeg legend in Albanian national identity. 20: Frisian Nationalism – Explore Frisian nationalism’s cultural expressions. 21: Nationalism and Archaeology – Archaeology’s role in supporting nationalist claims. National Myth provides vital insights for understanding how narratives shape political and cultural landscapes. It’s essential reading for students, professionals, and anyone interested in the power of myths in shaping our world.

Inspired by debates among political scientists over the strength and depth of the pre-modern roots of nationalism, this study attempts to gauge the status of ethnic identities in an era whose dominant loyalties and modes of political argument were confessional, institutional and juridical. Colin Kidd's point of departure is the widely shared orthodox belief that the whole world had been peopled by the offspring of Noah. In addition, Kidd probes inconsistencies in national myths of origin and ancient constitutional claims, and considers points of contact which existed in the early modern era between ethnic identities which are now viewed as antithetical, including those of Celts and Saxons. He also argues that Gothicism qualified the notorious Francophobia of eighteenth-century Britons. A wide-ranging example of the new British history, this study draws upon evidence from England, Scotland, Ireland and America, while remaining alert to European comparisons and influences.

Despite profound disagreement on whether identities are essential or existential, primordial or constructed, singular or multiple, there is little dispute over whether identities exist or not. In this provocative study, Sinisa Malesevic interrogates the unproblematic use of concepts of identity, and in particular national or ethnic identity.

Nationalism and nationalist ideas are a major force in the contemporary world. This volume brings together original papers from a number of countries dealing both with theories and case studies of particular national contexts. Taken together, these papers shed light on the processes through which nationalist sentiments and ideas are articulated and given social and political meaning in specific situations. They cover a broad range of different kinds of nationalist movements and ideologies, using a variety of theoretical perspectives and based on varying empirical methodologies. The cases covered include a comparison of Bosnia-Herzegovina and the North Caucasus, the role of religion in nationalist sentiment in Spain, ethnicity and nationalism in Turkey, Basque nationalism, the Basque diaspora across the Atlantic, the patrimonial state and inter-ethnic conflict in Nigeria, and nationalist movements in Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. Though this is the empirical focus, all chapters raise relevant theoretical questions and challenge differing approaches to the phenomenon of nationalism in the social sciences. This book was originally published as a special issue of Ethnic and Racial Studies.