Nations, Identity and Power in Central and Eastern Europe

'Nations, Identity and Power in Central and Eastern Europe' seeks critically to analyse the concepts of nation, nationalism and national identity and examine their relationship to political power. The course takes an interdisciplinary approach, examining explanatory and normative literature from sociology, social psychology, history and politics. The course is structured around specific concepts and theories but students apply these concepts and theories to actual cases from the region, allowing them to develop a specialised understanding of the political power of nationalism. The course will cover the following issues:

• What is a nation?

• The psychology of national identification

• The social construction of nations

• The ethnic origins of nations?

• The nation, modernity and the state

• Nationalism, legitimacy and self-determination

• Nations in communism and post-communism

• Modern politics and bounded communities

• Inclusion, exclusion and the politics of belonging

• The complexities of everyday nationhood

This page last modified 9 September, 2010 by Richard C. M. Mole