Faith in Nation

Exclusionary Origins of Nationalism

Anthony W. Marx

Faith in Nation

Exclusionary Origins of Nationalism

Anthony W. Marx

Description

In a startling departure from the unquestioning liberal consensus that has governed discussions of nationalism for the past quarter century, Marx exposes the hidden underside of Western nationalism. Arguing that the true history of the nation began two hundred years earlier, in the early modern era, he shows how state builders set about deliberately constructing a sense of national solidarity to support their burgeoning authority. Key to this process was the transfer of power from local to central rulers; the most suitable vehicle for effecting this transfer was religion. Religious intolerance, specifically the exclusion of religious minorities from the nascent state, provided the glue that bound together the remaining populations. Exposing the West's idealization of its exclusionary past, Marx forcefully undermines the distinction between a Western nationalism that is civic and tolerant by definition and an oriental nationalism founded on ethnicity and intolerance.

Faith in Nation

Exclusionary Origins of Nationalism

Anthony W. Marx

1. History and Arguments
2. Amassing State and Gathering Storm
3. Founding Exclusions
4. Interregnums of Coexistence and State-Building
5. Cohesion by Exclusion, Redux from Above
6. Superimposing Democratic Inclusion on Forgotten Exclusions
7. Angel of History and Patron Saint of Nationalism
Notes
Bibliography
Index

Faith in Nation

Exclusionary Origins of Nationalism

Anthony W. Marx

Author Information

Anthony Marx is the 18th President of Amherst College. Previously, he was Professor of Political Science and Co-Director of the Center for Historical Social Science at Columbia University. He is the author of Making Race and Nation: A Comparison of the United States, South Africa, and Brazil, winner of the Barrington Moore Prize, and co-winner of the Ralph Bunche Award.

Faith in Nation

Exclusionary Origins of Nationalism

Anthony W. Marx

Reviews and Awards

"This book is a major addition to the social science literature on nationalism; it is also a powerful argument against many of the most celebrated contemporary writers on the subject... The central point of the book is that nationalism results from a process of exclusion (most other writers have stressed inclusion), and particularly from internal discord over religion. As both a political scientist and a scrupulous historian, Marx uses this powerful scheme to explain and differentiate events that occurred in Spain, France, and England in the age of domestic religious conflicts. In this remarkable book, it is Sant Bartholomew whom the author proposes as the patron of nationalism. A grim view, but a rich and persuasive argument."--Foreign Affairs

"...a broad-ranging comparative narrative that will contribute to ongoing discussion and debate about the evolution of nationalism both as an ideology and as a practical system of power....Marx's engaging and provocative book deserves to be read, questioned, and considered by all who are concerned with the development of state power and national identity."--Muse