STV4302B – Nationalism and Ethnic Politics
Course description
Course content
- What are nations?
- How are they formed?
- What is the relationship between ethnicity and the state?
The course focuses on the phenomenon of nationalism and the expressions of ethnicity in the political sphere. It combines theoretical and empirical inputs from comparative political science as well as political sociology, but also draws on social anthropology, sociology and history to provide a comprehensive introduction into the issue.
It tries to strike a balance between teaching theories and anchoring them in empirical "selected issues" - manifestations of ethnic politics and influence of nationalist ideologies on political life.
The students will learn about the major theories of nationalism and the emergence of nations, which will then be applied to two empirical cases:
- Norway
- Central Europe (the Visegrád states)
The second half of the course discusses points of interest in which ethnicity and nationalism act both as conflict generators and potential tools of conflict resolution. Topics covered include:
- modern nationalist political parties
- ethnic minorities, with an emphasis on Eastern Europe
- immigration, with a focus on Western Europe
- supranational identities
Learning outcome
Knowledge
The students will:
- Become familiar with the main theories of nationalism, including primordialism, modernism, ethnosymbolism and postmodern approaches.
- Learn about the historical background of "the age of nationalism".
- Be encouraged to use the theories they have learned to the empirical cases of Norway and Central Europe.
- Learn about contemporary nationalist and right-wing populist political parties in Europe.
- Discover the differences and similarities between two manifestations of the issue of ethnic minorities:
- the question of irredentist and historical minorities in Eastern Europe?
- the problems of immigration and integration in Western Europe?
Skills
The students will:
- Learn to think in terms of theory and to evaluate competing theoretical approaches.
- Develop the ability to employ theories in empirical research.
- Be able to communicate academic knowledge in writing and orally.
Competences
The students will:
- Enhance their capability to think critically about nationalist ideologies and politics.
- Acquire a good theoretical background in an impo