What is the impact of nationalisms on cultural diversity across the European continent? Is it an anomaly or rather a phenomenon?
Join the lecture of Siniša Malešević to learn more!

About the lecture

This lecture focuses on the impact of nationalisms on cultural diversity across the European continent. Nationalism is often perceived as a deviant belief system that is at odds with the prevailing globalist trend of the contemporary world. In journalistic and some academic accounts, nationalism is regularly labelled as a relic of the nineteenth century. The recent nativist and far-right populist attacks on cultural diversity in Europe are often seen as an attempt to reverse the course of history. However, I challenge such views. I argue that nationalism is not a radical anomaly but a phenomenon underpinning European modernity's organisational, ideological, and micro-interactional foundations.

Therefore, the current incarnation of nationalist ideas and practices across Europe can only be properly understood if analysed through the historical prism of the longue durée. Such a historically rooted analysis shows that nationalism did not experience a sudden rise but rather has been steadily expanding over the past two centuries. The intensity and strength of nationalisms in the modern era stems from the organisational and ideological dominance of a specific form of polity that maintains a hegemonic position in the contemporary world – the nation-state.

Light refreshments will be served after the lecture.