Faith in Nation: Exclusionary Origins of Nationalism

“Rejecting almost every previous account of nationalism – including mine! — Anthony Marx provocatively locates its European origins in rulers’ strategies of building support for their regimes by ruthless labeling and exclusion of those regimes’ enemies. Marx’s work will make students of contemporary nationalism rethink their subject.” Charles Tilly, author of From Mobilization to Revolution and Durable Inequality

“This book is a major addition to the social science literature on nationalism; it is also a powerful argument against many of the most celebrated contemporary writers on the subject . . . The central point of the book is that nationalism results from a process of exclusion (most other writers have stressed inclusion), and particularly from internal discord over religion. As both a political scientist and a scrupulous historian, Marx uses this powerful scheme to explain and differentiate events that occurred in Spain, France, and England in the age of domestic religious conflicts. In this remarkable book, it is Sant Bartholomew whom the author proposes as the patron of nationalism. A grim view, but a rich and persuasive argument.” —Foreign Affairs