1st Edition

Cultural Nationhood and Political Statehood The Birth of Self-Determination

By André Liebich Copyright 2023
120 Pages
by Routledge

120 Pages
by Routledge

120 Pages
by Routledge

Cultural Nationhood and Political Statehood explores the development of the idea that every nation – most commonly understood as a linguistic community – is entitled to its own state. Following several contemporary studies of nationalism, this book provides a critical examination of the peculiarly modern concurrence of cultural nations and political states as it developed in... Read more

1. Must Nations Become States?

2. Nationalism and the French Revolution

3. Ideological Currents 1815–1830

4. Czartoryski and the Case for Polish Statehood

5. Mazzini and the Italian Road to Universal Nationhood

6. The Principle of Nationality

7. Germany

8. The Principle of Nationality, Again

9. From the Principle of Nationality to Self-Determination

10. Czechoslovakia

11. Nations and States since 1945

12. Conclusion: An Issue Unresolved

Biography

André Liebich is Honorary Professor of International History and Politics at the Graduate Institute, Geneva, Switzerland, where he was Professor of International History and Politics from 1989 to 2013. He was also Visiting Professor at the Global Studies Institute at the Université de Genève, Switzerland. He was previously Professor of Political Science at the Université du Québec à Montréal, Canada, and has held many visiting fellowships. He has written widely on political theory, European history, minorities, citizenship, and nationalism, with particular reference to Eastern Europe.

"This splendid book demonstrates that the insistence on each nation having its own state came much later than classical theories of nationalism realize. The range of cases and command of the historical record is deeply impressive, and the discussions of Czartoryski and Mazzini superb—and the book is a joy to read, really clever, occasionally quirky, at times amusing but always thoughtful."

John A. Hall, Emeritus James McGill Professor of Sociology at McGill University, Canada