Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
COURSE BROCHURE
DEPARTMENT OF SOCIOLOGY
Contents
The overall aim of this course is to use the theme of nationalism to illustrate general theoretical
principles in sociology and anthropology.
To show how the disciplines of sociology and anthropology achieve a rational understanding of
social experience.
To demonstrate, by looking at the changing form, content and popularity of nationalism, the nature
of social structure and the place of people in their communities.
To use debates and arguments in the sociology of national identity to reflect upon the history of our
discipline and to question the evidence we present for our claims about the world.
By the end of the course we hope that students will be better able:
To understand and account for the major developments in the content and expression of
nationalism;
To be conversant with the major theories in the interpretation of national identity;
To evaluate critically the evidence presented in sociological and anthropological arguments.
Finally, we intend to encourage in our students general skills which will endure beyond university
years. We hope at the end of the course, that you will be better able:
The assessment for the course is based on two research papers (15% each) and a written examination
(70%). Although the two presentations are not marked as such, your presentations will be evaluated in
written form along with the comments for the two research papers. The student is expected to meet the
deadlines set for each exercise (see section 2.41)
2.3 Lectures & Tutorials
The lectures for the course will be held in New King’s room 14 from 15.00-16.00 on Tuesdays.
There will be two tutorial seminar groups which will meet on Mondays. On will meet from 12.00-
13.00 in EWB, F74 and the other at 14.00-15.00 in OBF, 012. Assignment to specific tutorials, and
topics for the tutorials and for the essays will be made at the first lecture.
The office number of the lecturer, Dr. David Anderson is F22 Edward Wright building, telephone
272770. Electronic mail is david.anderson@abdn.ac.uk.
2.4 Assessment
Assessment of Sociology SO4519 is based on two elements: continuous assessment (two essays and a
short presentation) and a written examination. The continuous assessment element will be weighted at
30% of the combined assessment, and the written examination at 70%.
In the first set of tutorials, each student will be asked to present one essay topic from the list of lecture
topics II through V. In the second set of tutorials, each student will present on a topics chosen from
lectures VI through X (see section 4.0). Each student will be assigned to a topic on the date of the first
lecture. Some tips for structuring your presentation are in section 2.51 of this brochure. Tutorial
presentations are not assessed as such, but the more preparation invested in the presentation will be
reflected in the quality of the paper.
The topic assigned for the tutorial presentation will also be the topic for the written submission. The
advantage behind allowing students to present their research is to allow them to discuss their ideas with
their seminar group before writing it up. The presentations also give other students the benefit of your
research. The deadline for the submission of each essay will be at the beginning of the tutorial session
two weeks following the date of the lecture (or during the tutorial one week following the your oral
presentation for that topic). Thus if you have been assigned to do an essay on the theories of
nationalism of Ernest Gellner (Lecture III February 22), the date of the presentation will be February
28 and the submission deadline for the essay will be at the beginning of your tutorial on March 6. If
you have an approved reason for missing the tutorial, you should submit your essay to the Sociology
Department’s main office (Room F50). Detailed advice on essay writing is given in section 2.52 of this
brochure.
Any student who fails to hand in an essay by the appropriate date will be referred to the head of the
department who may withhold the Class Certificate for the half-session course. Students will only be
allowed extensions beyond the deadline by obtaining permission from the lecturer. If you are ill, it is
your responsibility to ensure that a medical certificate is provided to the department; extensions to the
deadline will normally be given to students with certified illness. Except with advance permission from
the lecturer, late essays will not be accepted.
Your essay will be marked by the lecturer and returned with an indication of its standard. All essays are
graded on the twenty-point university common marking scale (which is summarised below) and the
grade be made available to you. The grade given should be treated as a general indication of the
standard of the essay and cannot be considered as a firm and final assessment until after the External
Examiner has met with the members of the department to determine the assessment results. Your
assessment essay may be required for scrutiny by the External Examiner, and you should therefore
keep your essay and be prepared to hand them in again to your tutor if asked.
2.42 Written Examinations
The 2-hour written examination paper for the half-session course will be taken in the examination
period following the end of the course.
20 - 18 First Class
17 - 15 Upper Second Class
14 - 12 Lower Second Class
11 - 9 Third Class
8 -6 Fail
1 -5 Not used for courses at Honours level
In order to achieve a satisfactory mark the student must (a) demonstrate an understanding of the topic
at hand, (b) express the relevance of topic, (c) compose an adequately structured argument, (d) marshal
evidence to support that argument, (e) and to style an essay coherently. Any essay which meets all five
criteria will be given a grade of 12-14. An essay which shows an excellent understanding of the
question, or develops a unique, critical argument will be given a grade of 15-17. Grades 18-20 are used
sparingly and will only be assigned to a work which is outstanding according to two or more of the
above criteria. Grades 9-11 will be given to work, which does not completely fulfil the five criteria
above. For example, weak papers may have contradictory or insufficient arguments, or present
arguments which are not supported by reference to the literature, or show an uncritical assessment of
the literature. Grades 1-8 are given very rarely. They reflect written work which does not meet the
standards expected of Honours students. A paper of this type would fail to address some or all of the
five criteria above.
You should be aware that the University penalises plagiarism seriously. Plagiarism is the
representation of other’s ideas as if they were you own. In an essay or even an verbal presentation you
should not just copy or quote someone else’s work without acknowledging it. This stricture includes
merely rearranging the order of the words or restating the ideas. In my experience, cases of plagiarism
may occur subconsciously when a student, who has read dozens of works on a single theme, begins to
reproduce arguments in an off-hand way as if they were common knowledge. In your papers you
should always maintain distance between yourself and your sources, acknowledging and analysing
them at every step. You are evaluated on your conscious and pointed evaluation of the sources, not on
your capacity to just reproduce and argument.
The University’s definition of plagiarism is paragraph 1.1.8 of the Code of Practice of Student
Discipline (www.abdn.ac.uk/Academic-Section/download.html).
Any suspicion of plagiarism must be reported to the Head of the Department. If, after investigation,
cheating is suspected the matter will be reported to the University’s Investigating Officer. The offence
is subject to severe penalties ranging from a mark of zero for the entire course or preventing the student
from getting an honours degree.1
3.11 Textbooks
This course will feature concepts and analysis taken equally from sociology as anthropology. The
following three books provide good discussions of the literature on nationalism in both disciplines with
excellent bibliographies. We will be referring to them often.
Eriksen, Thomas H. 1993. Ethnicity and Nationalism: Anthropological Perspectives. London: Pluto
Press.
McCrone, David. 1998. The Sociology of Nationalism: Tomorrow's Ancestors. London: Routledge.
Alfred, Gerald R. 1995. Heeding the Voices of Our Ancestors: Kahnewake Mohawk Politics and the
Rise of Native Nationalism. Toronto: Oxford University Press.
Borneman, John. 1992. Belonging in Two Berlins: Kin, State, Nation. Cambridge: Cambridge
1
Since this is my first course here in Aberdeen, the legal paragraphs for this outline have drawn heavily
upon, if not in places reproducing exactly, the paragraphs in the course prospecti of Prof. Bruce and Dr.
Inglis.
University Press.
Chapman, Malcolm. 1992. The Celts: The Construction of a Myth. Basingstoke: Macmillan Press.
Handler, Richard. 1988. Nationalism and the Politics of Culture in Quebec. Madison: University of
Wisconsin Press.
There will also be sets of selected photocopied readings on ‘French Minority Nationalism’ and perhaps
on ‘Quebecois nationalism’ which will be made available towards the middle of March.
Anderson, B. 1991. Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism
[Revised Edition]. London: Verso.
Barth, Fredrik. 1969. Ethnic Groups and Boundaries: The Social Organization of Cultural Difference.
Boston: Little, Brown and Co.
Gellner, Ernest. 1997 Nationalism. London: Weidenfeld & Nicholson [This is an edited collection of
Gellner’s Essays]
Hobsbawm, Eric. Nations and nationalism since 1780. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press; 1990.
As this is Dr. Anderson’s first course of lectures in Aberdeen, it is quite possible that certain topics are
not as well supported by the library’s resources as he had planned. As the course progresses, additional
photocopied readings may be placed in the heavy demand section of the library. Students who are
encountering difficulty in researching a specific topic should consult with Dr. Anderson about
borrowing books or copies from his personal library. It will be expected that students will consult the
main library first.
4.0 OUTLINE OF LECTURES AND READINGS
The lecture for each week, as the tutorial presentations and associated essay topics, are supported by a
list of required and supplemental readings. Required readings are identified in this brochure with an
asterix and will be placed in the HD section of the library. It is not expected that you read all of the
readings for the course, but the wider your path through the readings the better will be your
understanding of the issue and the discipline.
Banks, Marcus. 1996. Ethnicity: An Anthropological Construction. New York: Routledge. [Chapters 1
& 2]
*Bauer, O.. 1999. “The Nation” in Balakrishnan, Gopal (ed.). Mapping the Nation. pp. 39-77 London:
Verso
Barth, Fredrik (ed.). 1969. Ethnic Groups and Boundaries: The Social Organization of Cultural
Difference. Boston: Little, Brown and Co. [Introduction and chapters by Barth and by
Eidheim]
*Eriksen, Thomas H. 1993. Ethnicity and Nationalism: Anthropological Perspectives. London: Pluto
Press. [chs 3, 5,6]
Gellner, Ernest. 1983. Nations and Nationalism. Oxford: Basil Blackwell.[Chs 1-5]
*Hobsbawm, Eric. Nations and nationalism since 1780. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press; 1990.
Hobsbawm, Eric and Terence Ranger (eds.) 1983. The Invention of Tradition. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press. [Chs 1 & 2]
Llobera, Josep R. 1994 The God of Modernity: The Development of Nationalism in Western Europe.
Oxford: Berg.[Part II]
Smith, Anthony D. and Ernest Gellner. 1996. "The Nation: Real or Imagined." Nations and
Nationalism 2(3):358-70
Smith, Anthony D.. “Nationalism and the Historians” in Balakrishnan, Gopal (ed.). Mapping the
Nation. pp. 175-198 London: Verso
II.1)Discuss the role that the analysis of nationalism has played in Marxist theory, keeping in mind the
irony that most successful Marxist revolutions have benefited from movements of national
liberation.
II.2)Discuss to what degree a Barthian transactional account of ethnicity takes as implicit a liberal
concept of the person.
III. Does Nationalism Invent Nations? The Theories of Earnest Gellner
Week 19 (Feb 21 - Feb 25)
———. 1997. Nationalism. London: Wiedenfeld & Nicolson. [This is an edited collection containing a
selection of Gellner’s essays]
———. 1983. Nations and Nationalism. Oxford: Basil Blackwell. [Chs 6-10]
Hall, J. A. and I. Jarvie, eds. 1996. The Social Philosophy of Ernest Gellner. Amsterdam: Rodopi.
Hroch, Miroslav. 1985. Social Preconditions of National Revival in Europe. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press. [Part I]
*Hroch, Miroslav. 1999 “From National Movement to the Fully-Formed Nation” in Balakrishnan, G.,
ed. 1996. Mapping the Nation. pp. 98-145 London: Verso.
*McCrone, David. 1998. The Sociology of Nationalism: Tomorrow's Ancestors. London: Routledge.
[Chapters 4 & 5]
*Taylor, Charles 1999 “Nationalism and Modernity” in Beiner, Ronald (ed.) Theorizing Nationalism
Albany: State University of New York pp219-245
III.1) Ernest Gellner is reputed to be the premier advocate of a modernist account of nationalism.
However not all of Gellner’s writing suggests that national identity is contrived or constructed.
Weigh the importance of cultural legacy in the construction of nation according to Gellner.
III.2) Gellner’s account of nationalism stresses the role of literate elites in constructing national
identity as well as the latent effect of industrialisation upon cultural homogeneity. McCrone
argues that this very broad idea works best to account for 19th Century nationalism but fails to
account for the vibrant ‘neo-nationalisms’ which have changed the faced of industrial societies in
this Century. Defend Gellner against this attack.
IV. Are Imagined Communities Imaginary? Reflexive Theories of the Nation
Week 20 (Feb 28 - Mar 3)
Anderson, David G. 1998. "Living in a Subterranean Landscape: Identity Politics in Post-Soviet Khakassia." Pp.
52-65 in Surviving Post-Socialism, eds. Sue Bridger and Frances Pine. London: Routledge.
*Banks, Marcus. 1996. Ethnicity: An Anthropological Construction. New York: Routledge. [Chapter 1 and 6]
*Borneman, John. 1992. Belonging in Two Berlins: Kin, State, Nation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Hroch, Miroslav. 1985. Social Preconditions of National Revival in Europe. Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press. [Part II]
Kurti, Laszlo and Juliet Langman, eds. 1997. Beyond Borders: Remaking Cultural Identities in the New East and
Central Europe . Boulder: Westview Press. [chs 1 and 2]
McCrone, David. 1998. The Sociology of Nationalism: Tomorrow's Ancestors. London: Routledge. [Ch 8]
Verdery, Katherine. 1991. National Identity Under Socialism: Identity and Cultural Politics in Ceausescu's
Romania. Oxford: University of California Press.
*Verdery, Katherine. 1999. “Whither ‘Nation’ and ‘Nationalism” in Balakrishnan, Gopal (ed.). Mapping the
Nation. pp. 226-235 London: Verso
VI.1) While the ‘sudden’ appearance of vociferous nationalist demands in the former Soviet space
initially surprised theorists, it has now been recognised that state socialism generations its own peculiar
pressures on identity. Examine the relationship between state power and the generation of the
nationalist sentiment. Weigh the extent that political repression of pre-existing identities contributed to
the outbreak in nationalist demands (the ‘pressure-cooker theory’) as compared to changes in everyday
civic practice (as argued by Bourneman).
VI.2) In terms of Western European history, the rise of nationalism parallels the rise of the market
economies and the liberal democratic state. Can the sudden rise of national demands in the spaces of
the former Soviet Union be linked to the sudden institution of a market economy?
VII. First Nations Nationalism
Week 22 (Mar 13 - Mar 17)
VII.1) Critically analyse Gerald Alfred’s ‘nested’ theory of nationalism giving special attention to
modernist criteria for nationhood. To what degree can nationalism support different qualities at
different levels of social organisation?
VII.2) In many parts of North America, first nations nationalism is founded upon solemn agreements
with the British colonial state dating back to the Royal Proclamation. Explore the challenges that
the multi-generational treaties and the rule of law create to liberal democratic visions of society.
Brand, J. 1985. "Nationalism and the Neocolonial Periphery." Pp. 277-93 in New Nationalsims of the
Developed West, eds. E. Tiryakian and R. Rogowski. London: Allen & Unwin.
Brown, Alice, David McCrone and Lindsay Paterson. 1998. Politics and Society in Scotland. London:
Macmillan.
Bruce, Steve. 1993. ‘A failure of the imagination: ethnicity and nationalism in Scotland’s history’,
Scotia, 17, pp. 1-17. [SB will provide copies]
Chapman, Malcolm. 1992. The Celts: The Construction of a Myth. Basingstoke: Macmillan Press.
Condry, E. 1976. "The Impossibility of Solving the Highland Problem." Journal of the Anthropological
Society of Oxford 12(3).
Guibernau, M. 1996. Nationalisms: The Nation State and Nationalism in the Twentieth Century.
Cambridge: Polity Press.
Hobsbawm, Eric and Terence Ranger. 1983. The Invention of Tradition. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press.
Keating, Michael. 1996. Nations Against the State: the New Politics of Nationalism in Quebec,
Catalonia, and Scotland. New York: St. Martins Press.
McCrone, David. 1998. The Sociology of Nationalism: Tomorrow's Ancestors. London: Routledge.
McCrone, David. 1992. Understanding Scotland: The Sociology of a Stateless Nation. London:
Routledge.
Nadel-Klain, Jane. 1992. "Reweaving the Fringe: Localism, Tradition, and Representation in British
Ethnography." American Ethnologist (18):500-17.
Paterson, Lindsay. 1994. The Autonomy of Modern Scotland. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
To be announced
IX. Canadien Identity and Québeçois Nationalism
Week 25 (April 24 - April 28)
IX.1) The work of Richard Handler teaches us that the construction of a boundary from a line on a map to the
image of a national ‘body’ or ‘person’ is a key precondition in the fostering of a nationalist movement.
Compare the process of nationalist interpollation in Quebec to one other European context of your choice.
IX.2) In his critique of Québeçois identity the Mohawk political theorist Gerald Alfred describes the
movement as ‘merely’ linguistically based. Examine to what degree a distinct language is a sufficient
condition to the formation of a national unit. If appropriate, make comparisons to Scotland or Catalonia.
X. The Future of Nationalism
Week 26 (May 1 – May 5)