Nations and Nationalism By: Ernest Gellner

1. Nations and NationalismBy: Ernest Gellner Christian Santarelli Shane Kalna

2. Nationalism • A theory of political legitimacy • How good your country is doing in the political world • Ethnic boundaries do not cut across political boundaries • Political and National unit should be congruent

3. The State • Definition of nationalism depends on state and nation • The two are parasitic • State conflict cannot be resolved by private or sectional violence • The state is comprised of agencies • The state exists where specialized order-enforcingagencies have been separated out from rest of life • Police forces • Courts • Nationalism does not arise when there is no state

4. The Nation • A nation is less clearly defined than a state • A nation is a contingency • Not necessary to be • Neither states not nations exist at all times • Nationalism juxtaposes nations and states • Either without the other is incomplete • sets themselves up for tragedy

5. Weaknesses and Problems of Nationalism • Believes there is only one effective nationalism for every 10 potential ones • Nationalism is fated to prevail • Vast amount of languages cause problems with nationalism • Especially when state or nation is large

6. Two Types of Nationalism • Eastern Nationalism • Western Nationalism

7. THANK YOU!