A printed version of the Ernest Gellner Nationalism Lecture of Nations and Nationalism, delivered at the London School of Economics and Political Science, 19 April 2005. References. Adapted from the source document.
The English and the French are both former imperial peoples, and to that extent they share certain features of national identity common to peoples who have had empires. That includes a 'missionary' sense of themselves, a feeling that they have, or have had, a purpose in the world wider than the concerns of non-imperial nations. I argue that nevertheless the English and the French have diverged substantially in their self-conceptions. This I put down to a differing experience of empire, the sense especially among the French that the British were more successful in their imperial ventures. I also argue that contrasting domestic histories - evolutionary in the English case, revolutionary in that of the French - have also significantly coloured national identities in the two countries. These factors taken together, I argue, have produced a more intense send of nationhood and a stronger national consciousness among the French than among the English. (Nations and Nationalism)
Argues that Europe has always been a transnational & multicultural arena in which people moved freely over each other's lands, adding their uniqueness to the cultures of different countries. An exploration of the contributions of religious groups to the historical meaning of Europe looks beyond the Christian majority to consider the cultural input of Jews, Muslims, Sikhs, & Hindus. Special attention is given to the notion of a European identity & how the new wave of migrants will alter the shape of European culture. Although religion, primarily Christianity, is seen as both a unifying factor & the main basis of "European culture," there is considerable disagreement over the idea of a common European identity. It is contended that diversity does not inhibit the notion of a common European culture & individuals can claim to be European without giving up their specific subnational/transnational identities. The idea of a new Europe that as one of "ethnic heterogeneity inserted into a multicultural suprastate" is considered, along with obstacles standing in the way of such a formulation. J. Lindroth