The history of the dichotomy of civic Western and ethnic Eastern nationalism

Abstract

ABSTRACT The dichotomy of civic vs. ethnic nationalism has long been applied spatially to explain differences between ‘Western’ and ‘Eastern’ manifestations of nationalism. Though frequently criticised on empirical, methodological, and normative grounds, this dualism continues to find widespread use in nationalism studies. Through a genealogical study of the dichotomy’s emergence and evolution from Hans Kohn to John Plamenatz and Ernest Gellner, the article traces its strong ties to discourses and policies of ‘Western’ superiority, and to demi-orientalising constructions of ‘Eastern Europe’ as the inferior other of the ‘civilized West’.