Accounts of the history of Zionism usually trace its origins to the late nineteenth century. In this groundbreaking book, Arie Morgenstern argues that its roots go back even further.
Morgenstern argues compellingly that the Jewish community in Israel may be traced back to a large-scale wave of immigration during the first half of the nineteenth century. Inspired by an expectation for the coming of the Messiah in the year 1840, thousands of Jews from throughout the Ottoman Empire, North Africa, and Eastern Europe relocated to Jerusalem. Morgenstern describes the messianic awakening in all these lands but focuses primarily on the concept of redemption through messianic activism that prevailed among the disciples of Rabbi Elijah, the Ga'on of Vilna. These immigrants believed that the Messiah's arrival would bring about the redemption of the Jews, but also that, in order for this redemption to come about, they needed to prepare the way for the Messiah by fulfilling the commandment to dwell in the land of Israel. Morgenstern offers a dramatic account of their relocation, their efforts to renew rabbinic ordination, their reestablishment of the Ashkenazi community, and the building of Jerusalem. He also explores the crisis of faith that followed the Messiah's failure to appear as expected, and its effects on the community.
Drawing on a wealth of previously untapped sources, Morgenstern sheds important new light on the history of messianic Judaism and on the ideological trends that preceded, and eventually gave birth to, modern political Zionism.

Today, the Japanese nation faces an identity crisis as it attempts to contend with the misfortunes endured in the 1990s: a downward economic spiral, a renewed crime wave, political corruption, and the failure of the government to take bold, new steps in response. Exploring Japaneseness, a collection of new essays from many of the leading scholars and researchers in Japanese studies, including specialists in communication, linguistics, anthropology, psychology, and others, attempts to address the current state of what it means to be Japanese. The central questions of this volume are those that the nation of Japan is itself considering as it begins the third millennium; Exploring Japaneseness provides a multidisciplinary perspective on what some of the answers might be. Suitable for the informed layman and the specialist alike, the collection deals with such varied subjects as language, nationalism, rhetoric, and mass media, laying a foundation for inquiries into Japanese national and cultural identities by examining aspects of Japaneseness as enacted through everyday discourse or communication. By exploring the culture from the "inside out," these esteemed scholars provide an expansive portrait of a complex and ever-evolving nation.

Iran's long history and complex cultural legacy have generated animated debates about a homogenous Iranian identity in the face of ethnic, linguistic and communal diversity. The volume examines the fluid boundaries of pre-modern identity in history and literature as well as the shaping of Iranian national identity in the 20th century.

There are at least three times as many nations as states in the world today. This book addresses some of the special challenges that arise when two or more national communities re the same (multinational) state. As a work in normative political philosophy its principal aim is to evaluate the political and institutional choices of citizens and governments in states with rival nationalist discourses and nation-building projects. The first chapter takes stock of a decade of intense philosophical and sociological debates about the nature of nations and nationalism. Norman identifies points of consensus in these debates, as well as issues that do not have to be definitively resolved in order to proceed with normative theorizing. He recommends thinking of nationalism as a form of discourse, a way of arguing and mobilizing support, and not primarily as a belief in a principle. A liberal nationalist, then, is someone who uses nationalist arguments, or appeals to nationalist sentiments, in order to rally support for liberal policies. The rest of the book is taken up with the three big political and institutional choices in multinational states. First, what can political actors and governments legitimately do to shape citizens' national identity or identities? This is the core question in the ethics of nation-building, or what Norman calls national engineering. Second, how can minority and majority national communities each be given an adequate degree of self-determination, including equal rights to carry out nation-building projects, within a democratic federal state? Finally, even in a world where most national minorities cannot have their own state, how should the constitutions of multinational federations regulate secessionist politics within the rule of law and the ideals of democracy? More than a decade after Yael Tamir's ground-breaking Liberal Nationalism, Norman finds that these three great practical and institutional questions have still rarely been addressed within a comprehensive normative theory of nationalism.

In 1991 the politicians of Northern Ireland sat down at the formal negotiating table for the first time in seventeen years. This book tells the fascinating story of the Initiative's three years of painstaking political deals in an enlightening and entertaining narrative, using the words of many of the participants. It shows how the Initiative laid the necessary groundwork for the subsequent Irish peace process and how its failures also illuminate current events.

This study, sponsored by the MacArthur Foundation and the London School of Economics and Political Science, analyzes the ethnopolitical situation in Russia and the other republics of the former Soviet Union, particularly the southern tier states. Respected Russian scholar Georgiy Mirsky provides an insider's look at the historical nature of the Russian and Soviet empires, the development of ethnic and nationalistic identities within those empires, and the present-day situation with regard to hot and cold ethnic conflicts within and around Russia. This important work will be of interest to scholars and policymakers in comparative politics, international relations, and Russian and Slavic studies.

Significant recent research on the German Right between 1918 and 1933 calls into question received narratives of Weimar political history. The German Right in the Weimar Republic examines the role that the German Right played in the destabilization and overthrow of the Weimar Republic, with particular emphasis on the political and organizational history of Rightist groups as well as on the many permutations of right-wing ideology during the period. In particular, antisemitism and the so-called "Jewish Question" played a prominent role in the self-definition and politics of the right-wing groups and ideologies explored by the contributors to this volume.

The way people encounter ideas of Hinduism online is often shaped by global discourses of religion, pervasive Orientalism and (post)colonial scholarship. This book addresses a gap in the scholarly debate around defining Hinduism by demonstrating the role of online discourses in generating and projecting images of Hindu religion and culture. This study surveys a wide range of propaganda, websites and social media in which definitions of Hinduism are debated. In particular, it focuses on the role of Hindu nationalism in the presentation and management of Hinduism in the electronic public sphere. Hindu nationalist parties and individuals are highly invested in discussions and presentations of Hinduism online, and actively shape discourses through a variety of strategies. Analysing Hindu nationalist propaganda, cyber activist movements and social media presence, as well as exploring methodological strategies that are useful to the field of religion and media in general, the book concludes by showing how these discourses function in the wider Hindu diaspora. Building on religion and media research by highlighting mechanical and hermeneutic issues of the Internet and how it affects how we encounter Hinduism online, this book will be of significant interest to scholars of religious studies, Hindu studies and digital media.

This book explores Israeli Religious Zionism and US Christian Zionism by focusing on the Messianic and Millenarian drives at the basis of their political mobilization towards a 'Jewish colonization' of the occupied territories.

Explores the ways in which the nation-state and nationalism are challenged by contemporary realities. This volume addresses changes to our understanding of national sovereignty, problems posed by violent conflict between rival national projects, the feasibility of postnationalist democracy and citizenship, and the debate over global justice.

After almost four centuries of expansion the Russian Empire at the beginning of the 20th century covered vast territories on the Eurasian continent and included an immensely diverse population. How was the new Russian regime to deal with the complexity of its population? This book examines the role of nation and nationality in the Soviet Union and analyzes the establishment of national republics in Soviet Central Asia. It argues that the originally nationally minded Soviet communists with their anti-nationalist attitudes came to view nation and national identity as valuable and constructive tools in state constructions.

This is the story of a dedicated group of foreign and Chinese reformers who tried, but failed, to solve China's intractable industrial problems over the three decades prior to 1949. It explores the complex rivalries of Chinese and foreigners against a backdrop of extreme nationalism.

Scholars acknowledge nationalism as a central force in nineteenth-century European history. Yet, they have seldom investigated what the nation meant to ordinary people. In this book, both renowned historians and younger scholars try to answer this question for a host of European countries, including Italy, Germany, France and Finland. Combining theoretical and methodological considerations with detailed research of archival sources on the grassroots level, Nationhood from Below will appeal to specialists in the field, but it also offers helpful reading for any college and university course on nationalism.

Myths of the Nation focuses on the construction of forms of historical consciousness in narratives, or schools of narrative. The study seeks to underscore what goes behind the writing of `true' and `authentic' histories by treating historical fiction as the literary dimension of nationalist ideology. It traces nationalism from its abstract underpinnings to its concrete manifestation in historical fiction which underwrites the Indian freedom struggle. The construction of identity through mythicized conceptions of India is examined in detail through Raja Rao's first novel, Kanthapura. The key concept governing the subject is that of representation. Since the `fictional reality' of the nation is a much debated issue, the study examines how history slides into fiction. The author shows how orientalist, nationalist, Marxist, subalternists, and poststructuralists, have all, in their own celebratory ways, used the disenfranchised sub-proletariat in their works. What she finds useful in poststructuralist practices, however, is that subaltern identities are imbued with heterogeneity, thus splitting open an authoritarian and reactionary nationalism, and a continuing neo-colonialism.

This book looks at Kurdish Nationalism in Iran and examines the links between the structural changes in the Kurdish economy and its political demands. Farideh Koohi Kamali argues that the transition of the nomadic, tribal society of Kurdistan to an agrarian village society was the beginning of a process by which Kurds saw themselves as a community of homogenous ethnic identity. The political movements of Kurds in Iran are discussed to illustrate that the different phases of economic development of Kurdish society played a great role in determining the way in which Kurds expressed their political demands for independence. MARKET 1: Postgraduates studying Middle East Studies; Development Studies; Ethnicity and Nationalism; International Studies; Refugee Studies; Peace Studies

Galicia, the region in the northwest corner of Spain that is continguous with northern Portugal, is known officially as the Autonomous Community of Galicia. It is recognized as one of the historical nationalities that makes up the Spanish state, as legitimized by the Spanish Constitution of 1978. This study compares the topographic and ethnographic descriptions produced with respect to Galicia and Portugal during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries in order to understand how the integration in different states and the existence of a specific nationalist discourse marked differences in the ways that two bordering regions in the northwest of the Iberian Peninsula have been represented. Although Galicia and Portugal each belong to different states, their similarities are frequently alluded to. The author explores the presence and role of the imagination in creating a sense, over the last century and a half, of the national being and becoming of these two related peoples.

This book provides an introductory survey to contemporary nationalism in East Central Europe. It examines the problem of nationalism in the region in the wake of the collapse of communism and attempts to place recent events within a historical context. The book contains selected essays devoted to specific countries as well as those covering nationalism on a regional basis. A further reading list is included to encourage a deeper probing into the problem of nationalism in East Central Europe.

The Literature of Nationalism concerns literature in its broadest sense and the manner in which, in belles lettres, the oral tradition and journalism, language and literature create national/nationalist myths. It treats East European culture from Finland to 'Yugoslavia', from Bohemia to Romania, from the nineteenth century to today. One third of the book concerns women and ethnic identity, and the rest covers subjects as varied as Bulgarian Fascism and the impact of political change on language in Hungary and ex-Yugoslavia.

As Cyprus experienced British imperial rule between 1878 and 1960, Greek and Turkish nationalism on the island developed at different times and at different speeds. Relations between Turkish Cypriots and the British on the one hand, and Greek Cypriots and the British on the other, were often asymmetrical with the Muslim community undergoing an enormous change in terms of national/ethnic identity and class characteristics. Turkish Cypriot nationalism developed belatedly as a militant nationalist and anti-Enosis movement. This book explores the relationship between the emergence of Turkish national identity and British colonial rule in the 1920s and 1930s.

This study focuses on Christianity and black nationalism in South Africa and looks at four individuals--Albert Lutuli, Robert Sobukwe, Steve Biko, and Desmond Tutu--to see how each leader's Christian beliefs influenced the political strategy he pursued. Just as theology (Calvinism) was significant in the formulation of Afrikaner nationalism, so too has theology, variously interpreted, been instrumental in the articulation of African nationalism. The African National Congress (ANC), the Pan-Africanist Congress (PAC), the Black Consciousness Movement (BCM), and the United Democratic Front (UDF) all relied on a Christian perspective and vocabulary to articulate the goals of black nationalism. By tracing this religious thread through each of these various resistance movements, the author has made a fascinating contribution to the literature of comparative politics, African studies, and the sociology of religion.

Ludger Mees offers the first comprehensive study of one of Europe's most protracted ethnic conflicts. He carefully analyses both the historical roots of the conflict and its later growing violent dimension. Special attention is paid to the framing of a new opportunity structure during the 1990s, which facilitated the first serious, but ultimately frustrated, attempt to broker a settlement. In the light of different theoretical and comparative approaches, the reasons for the dramatic return of terrorism and the possibilities of a more successful conflict de-escalation in the near future are discussed.

Spreading Hate examines the evolution of the white power movement around the world, explaining its appeal and the threat it poses as well as many failures. The modern white power movement is now a global, transnational phenomenon. In this sweeping, authoritative account, Daniel Byman traces the key moments in the white power movement's evolution in the United States and around the world and then details its many facets today. Using a wide range of sources, Byman explodes several myths about white power terrorism and exposes dangerous gaps in current policies. For almost two decades since 9/11, white supremacist terrorism has been relegated to a secondary concern in the US and Europe despite the fact that it was clearly metastasizing. This neglect has led to shocking episodes of violence from New Zealand to Norway to South Carolina and has eroded faith in Western democratic institutions. Because white power terrorists' grievances echo mainstream debates and their violence often exacerbates polarization, their political impact can be inordinately high even if the body count is low. As Byman stresses, they are not a hide-bound movement seeking to turn back the clock, but are dynamic, drawing on ideas from around the world and exploiting the most cutting-edge technologies, especially social media. White power terrorists, however, have many weaknesses. They are divided, with poor leadership, and often attract the incompetent and the criminal as well as the dangerous and deluded. If governments act decisively and treat white power terrorism with the same urgency they use to manage jihadist violence, then the threat can be reduced. This will require aggressive law enforcement, international intelligence cooperation, crackdowns by technology companies, and other forceful steps. Considering policy solutions as well as synthesizing a vast body of scholarly research, Spreading Hate will be essential reading for anyone worried about this an increasingly networked movement that threatens to grow more dangerous in the years to come.

This work offers a fresh perspective to the study of 'Europe' by placing the discussion of 'What is Europe?' and 'What is it to be European?', in a wider context of the study of modernity through a collection of nine case studies.

Since 1989 neo-nationalism has grown as a volatile political force in almost all European societies in tandem with the formation of a neoliberal European Union and wider capitalist globalizations. Focusing on working classes situated in long-run localized processes of social change, including processes of dispossession and disenfranchisement, this volume investigates how the experiences, histories, and relationships of social class are a necessary ingredient for explaining the re-emergence and dynamics of populist nationalism in both Eastern and Western Europe. Featuring in-depth urban and regional case studies from Romania, Hungary, Serbia, Italy and Scotland this volume reclaims class for anthropological research and lays out a new interdisciplinary agenda for studying identity politics in the intensifying neoliberal conjuncture.