Ethnic Identification and Nationalist Movements

Abstract

This paper is concerned with encounters between ethnic identification and the state. The attempt is to provide a comprehensive conceptual framework for the study of ethnic nationalism. The paper is organized around six broad questions: What conditions strengthen or diminish ethnic identification? What conditions foster or inhibit the transformation of ethnic identification into nationalist movements? What patterns of development do these movements follow and what repertoires of expression do they exhibit? What aims do ethnic nationalist movements espouse? What are the reactions of governments to nationalist movements? And, what are the outcomes of these movements? In addressing these questions, material from different theoretical traditions are pulled together. These include relevant literature on identity, nationalism, social movements, leadership, and the state. The paper is cast in a propositional form.