Nationalism, Ethnicity and Boundaries ― Conceptualising and Understanding Identity Through Boundary Approaches

Nationalism and ethnicity have become, across time and space, a force in the construction of boundaries. This book analyses geographical and physical borders and symbolic, political and socio-economic boundaries, and how they impact upon nationalism and ethnic identity.

Geographic and other tangible borders are critical components in the making and un-making of boundaries. However, symbolic or intangible boundaries along national, ethnic, political or socio-economic criteria are equally significant. Organised into three sections on theory, national and transnational case studies, this book both introduces existing approaches to the study of boundaries and illustrates how it is possible to apply renewed boundary approaches to better understand nationalism and ethnicity in contemporary contexts. Expert contributors in the field present detailed case studies on the UK, Israel, Estonia, Latvia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan and draw upon further examples from more than a dozen countries to provide a critical evaluation of the use of borders, boundaries and boundary-making in the study of nationalism and ethnicity.

This book will be of interest to students and scholars of International Politics, Nationalism, Racial & Ethnic Politics, Ethnic Identity and Sociology.

Jennifer Jackson is co-chair of the ASEN Executive Committee at London School of Economics, UK, and a PhD candidate in the School of Politics and International Relations at University College Dublin, Ireland.

Lina Molokotos-Liederman is co-chair of the ASEN Executive Committee at London School of Economics, UK. She received her PhD in sociology of religion from the Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes in Paris