Encountering Nationalism

Encountering Nationalism introduces students to concepts of nationalism in an accessible, critical, and timely way. It provides an overview of the central theories, aspects, and inconsistencies of nationalism. The book explores the promises and pitfalls of nationalism, its cultural and political aspects, and its revolutionary and repressive possibilities. The chapters are organized around the importance of the state, race, gender, sexuality, and ethnicity to nationalism, and the future of nationalism. Abstract arguments are bolstered by clear and specific examples drawn from momentous events and from the well of everyday life, such as the aftermath of September 11, beauty pageants, ethnic conflicts, and sexual respectability. Encountering Nationalism is an engaging introduction to the diverse meanings of nationalism and its most important aspects.

Jyoti Puri is Associate Professor of Sociology at Simmons College. She is the author of Woman, Body, Desire in Post-Colonial India: Narratives of Gender and Sexuality (1999).