Summary
British sociologist (1939–) and main proponent of the ethnic-group approach to nationalism, highly significant for Zionist historiography in Amar-Dahl’s account (Zionist Israel and the Question of Palestine, PDF p.19-20).
Details
- Nationalism appeals to a deeply ingrained need to belong; the ethnic group, identified by group name, common myth of origins, common history and culture, connection to a shared territory and solidarity, endures since archaic times (Smith 1991: 170; 1986, PDF p.19).
- Nationalism is the ethnic group’s survival strategy against modern-era threats; politicization, secularization, territorialization and modern elites matter, but ethnic roots and a commonly shared past are not to be neglected (PDF p.19-20).