Miroslav Hroch – författare

This classic work on nationalism, originally published thirty years ago and now reissued with a new preface by the author, provides excellent historical and political background to the profusion of recent nationalist movements in Eastern Europe. Miroslav Hroch develops and demonstrates empirically the concept of a three-stage process of nationalist mobilization: heightened cultural awareness of national distinctiveness among intellectuals and literati, a concept of nationalism as a political program, and mass mobilization on behalf of this doctrine. Hroch shows how the character of a state's nationalism is shaped by the timing of each of these phases in relation to other social transformations, especially economic changes. Amid all the speculation and theorizing about the nationalist currents in contemporary Eastern Europe (as well as in other regions), Hroch's empirically based study helps counter the impulse toward easy and spectacular generalizations and provides sound footing for an informed approach to the topic.

The two main themes of this selection of articles by Professor Hroch are the process of nation formation during the 19th century, especially in the case of 'smaller' European nations, i.e. those without statehood, and the social and political aspects of the transition from a pre-modern, feudal and traditional society to a modern capitalist one and the uneven pace of this change in the West and East of Europe. The author argues that we cannot study the process of nation-formation as a mere product of some nebulous 'nationalism'; we have to understand it as a part of social and cultural transformation, as a component of modernization of European societies, even though this modernization did not occur synchronically and had its regional specificities. Many of the papers focus specifically on the Czech case, but throughout there is an emphasis on comparative history.

The two main themes of this selection of articles by Professor Hroch are the process of nation formation during the 19th century, especially in the case of 'smaller' European nations, i.e. those without statehood, and the social and political aspects of the transition from a pre-modern, feudal and traditional society to a modern capitalist one and the uneven pace of this change in the West and East of Europe. The author argues that we cannot study the process of nation-formation as a mere product of some nebulous 'nationalism'; we have to understand it as a part of social and cultural transformation, as a component of modernization of European societies, even though this modernization did not occur synchronically and had its regional specificities. Many of the papers focus specifically on the Czech case, but throughout there is an emphasis on comparative history.

In the history of modern political thought, no topics have attracted as much attention as nationalism, nation-formation, and patriotism. A mass of literature has grown around these vexed issues, muddying the waters, and a level-headed clarification is long overdue.Rather than adding another theory of nationalism to this maelstrom of ideas, Miroslav Hroch has created a remarkable synthesis, integrating apparently competing frameworks into a coherent system that tracks the historical genesis of European nations through the sundry paths of the nation-forming processes of the nineteenth century. Combining a comparative perspective on nation-formation with invaluable theoretical insights, European Nations is essential for anyone who wants to understand the historical roots of Europe's current political crisis.