TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2019//
TI  - Is nation 'one of the most puzzling and tendentious items in the political lexicon'?
JO  - Studies in ethnicity and nationalism
A1  - Jayet, Cyril
SP  - 152
EP  - 169
VL  - 19
IS  - 2
N2  - The aim of this paper is to clarify the meaning of the concept of nation, which has often been described as a puzzling concept. I propose first to analyse various definitions of nation, focusing on whether they imply that nations exist and what this means if so, or in what sense they exist. I distinguish four ways of approaching this. I evidence the shortcomings of each approach, and argue that the best one is that proposed by Brubaker: to focus on nationalization as a process and on nationness as a variable, rather than on 'nations' as discrete groups. Second, I show how this approach can benefit from Rosch's theory of categorization, Gellner's definition of nationalism, and Mann's theory of the centralization of the state. Finally, I argue that what Gellner called the 'weakness of nationalism' explains the puzzle of 'nations': although nationalization contributes to shaping society according to the principle of nationalism, it only succeeds to a certain degree, leaving nations always unfinished and impossible to identify clearly.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 1473-8481
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/sena.12299
ID  - ref1
ER  -