Why do so many people take-for-granted the idea that they live in and belong to a nation? Do national identities matter and, if so, to whom? To what extent are processes of globalisation undermining or reinforcing attachments to the nation? Drawing on insights from sociology, social psychology and anthropology, Michael Skey addresses these complex questions by examining the views and attitudes of a group that has been overlooked in much of the recent literature; the ethnic majority. Through a detailed analysis of the ways in which members of the majority in England discuss their own attachments, their anxieties about the future, and, in particular, their relations with minority groups, Skey demonstrates the link between a more settled sense of national belonging and claims to key material and psycho-social resources. By analysing what is at stake for the majority, the book offers a more complete understanding of recent controversies over immigration, multiculturalism and community cohesion in Western settings, as well as a framework for theorising the significance of nationhood in the contemporary era.

This book analyses the current debates around national identity and multiculturalism by addressing three key questions; why do so many people treat as common sense the idea that they live in and belong to nations? And, why, and for whom, might this idea be significant, notably in an era of increasing global uncertainty?