JVF Conference Papers
The purpose of this paper is to show that modernization accounts of national identity, although common, cannot in fact explain where such identity comes from. While nationalism is a uniquely modern phenomenon, I argue that there is nothing inherent within the process of becoming modern, that is state-building and the development of capitalism and industrialization, which necessitates the emergence of national identity. I make my point by testing the modernization paradigm both theoretically and empirically...
