Abstract

LOPEZ, Ander Errasti. Ernest Gellner's functionalist approach to nationalism: a criticism. Diacrítica [online]. 2012, vol.26, n.2, pp.195-207. ISSN 0807-8967.

This study examines Ernest Gellner’s nationalism theory and the problems that arise when applying it to the socio-political contemporary reality. Section I examines the general aspects of Gellner's functionalist approach to nationalism, focusing particularly on the development of the relationship between culture and power, and the resulting entropy. I examine the main features stressed by Gellner: division of labour's role, the bureaucracy or institutionalization, education related to the State’s culture, and the settlement of the nation-state. Section II presents the most relevant elements of post-industrial society: individualization, institutionalization of individuality and the collapse of nation states. Section III points out the current issues Gellner's approach fails to address. This paper’s aim is to identify these issues, and to answer two questions: Is Gellner’s approach able to explain current nationalist movements? Is the Industrialization-Modernism-Nationalism triangle still applicable in our times? The paper concludes that Gellner's explanation of the origin of nationalism might be successful, but he fails to explain its role in the socio-political contemporary scene.

Keywords : Nation; Culture; Functionalism; Modernity; Post-Industrial Society.

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