Reseña de Justo G. Beramendi, Ramón Máiz & Xosé M. Núñez (eds.), Nationalism in Europe. Past and Present

“This article was accepted for publication in Nationalism and Ethnic Politics, published by Taylor & Francis in 1995”.The book is divided in five sections dealing with the multifaceted phenomenon of nationalism in Europe: (a) Historiography and Methodology in the Study of Nationalism; (b) Nation-Building and Nationalism in the Multinational Empires; (c) Nation-Building in Germany and Italy; (d) Nation and Nationalisms in the Old-Established States; and (e) Nationalism in Europe Today. A common feature to most of the papers is their 'qualitative' and analytical nature. The first theme cutting across many of the papers compiled in the book is that concerning the primordialist/modernist axis or, in other words, the deterministic/functional division made among the diverse interpretations of scholars of nationalism. Very few of the latter would refuse to accept the existence of 'proto-nations' prior to the Modern Age, and that collective identity of a diverse territorial nature played and important role in the shaping of contemporary nationalism. Likewise, it would awkward to regard the nationalist phenomena as a 'natural' product of history beyond the paramount impact of the modern processes of social, economic and political changes (bureaucratization, colonization, industrialization and urbanization, to name a few). However, the attempts to conciliate both positions are rare to find, a feature which the pages of this book reflect conclusively.Peer reviewe