Nations & Nationalism
The Endurance of Nationalism:
Ancient Roots and Modern Dilemmas
Nations and Nationalism Debate
-
the fourth in a series of public debates organised by ASEN
and its Journal Nations and Nationalism in which a recent
major work on the subject of nationalism is discussed by a
panel of experts, including the author. [Comment by
tamilnation.org:
see also Material at Civic
Nationalism & Ethno Nationalism ]
Wednesday 31 October, 2007
at London School of Economics
Chaired by
Professor Anthony D. Smith (LSE)
Anthony D. Smith is one of most important
contemporary scholars of nationalism. He is Editor-in-Chief
of the scholarly journal Nations and Nationalism
(Cambridge University Press) and is the author of many books
on the subject including his "classic" The Ethnic Origins of
Nations.
Discussants:
Dr. Susan-Mary Grant (University of Newcastle) and
Professor John Breuilly (LSE)
 Author:
 Professor Aviel Roshwald
(Georgetown University),
author of
The Endurance of Nationalism: Ancient Roots and Modern Dilemmas![](
"Aviel Roshwald directly challenges
<a href=) prevalent scholarly orthodoxies
about the exclusively modern character of nationalism. He argues
that nationalism's enduring power to shape the world we live in
arises directly out of its position at the heart of inescapable
social and political paradoxes that are not only fundamental to the
modern experience, but many of whose roots can be traced back into
ancient history. Modern nationalisms, the author contends, cannot be
fully understood without first examining their ancient counterparts
and archetypes. Deploying a broad array of historical and
contemporary case studies (ranging from ancient Jewish nationalism
to the contemporary Israeli-Palestinian conflict, from the
nationalist politics of ancient Greece to the contested memory of
the Alamo, and from the Yugoslav wars to Northern Ireland's Orange
Parades) the author argues that a responsible politics of
nationalism depends upon a forthright acknowledgement of the
deep-seated and intrinsically insoluble dilemmas that inhere in
it..."
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