Nations and Nationalism by Ernest Gellner

Nations and Nationalism (Oxford Press) by Ernest Gellner is an attempt to determine what conditions bring about a true nation and the possibilities of nationalism, as well as an examination of the various components of nationalism. Throughout the book, Gellner uses real and imaginary events and circumstances to illustrate these conditions and components. At the same time, he is able to further clarify what the terms 'nation' and 'nationalism' mean. By examining his arguments, the strengths and weaknesses of this book can be discovered.

Gellner spends considerable time delineating the differences between agrarian and industrial societies, in order to explain why true nations do not develop in agrarian societies. By his definitions, agrarian societies are those in which there is a clear horizontal division between the ruling class and the masses, while there are vertical divisions within the masses. These divisions prevent the culture from achieving "the kind of monochrome homogeneity and political pervasiveness and domination for which later, with the coming of the age of nationalism, they later strive" (p. 13). The divisions within industrial society, on the other hand, contain a division of labor that fosters the growth of nationalism. Rather than only a small group of people, to whom Gellner refers as the clerisy, having the tools of literacy and education, the potential for this type of training is more widely available, preventing sub-communities which cannot support their own educational system from socializing members of their community. The wider educational system takes the responsibility for socialization of all persons, minimizing distinctions that were highly visible in agrarian society.

Although Gellner's differentiation between these two types of societies is helpful, it seems that this alone does not cover the entirety of why agrarian societies cannot produce nations. If the wide-spread educational system is the key to allowing national formation, then it would seem that a stable enough state might be able to evolve into a nation, regardless of their mode of production. Gellner does not seem to indicate why a pre-industrial state is incapable of supporting a wide-spread educational system, except in insisting that the division of labor of agrarian society precludes it. It seems clear that from Gellner's perspective, there is something crucial about the industrial division of labor that allows for a multitude of things which the agrarian division of labor does not, but it is unclear precisely what the crucial aspect of industrialism is. Perhaps this is tied somehow to the part that the Reformation plays in the development of the industrial way of thinking and the development of nations, which Gellner mentions but unfortunately does not develop.

Throughout his discussion of the prerequisites for a nation, Gellner emphasizes again and again the necessity of standardized education, which, along with power and culture, forms a solid basis for a nation. The state has the power (and responsibility) for "ensur[ing] that this literate and unified culture is indeed being effectively produced, that the educational product is not shoddy and sub-standard" (p. 38) - education and the state are interdependent. Education relies on the state for its maintenance, which in turn requires education if the state is to be maintained. Further along in the discussion, Gellner equates education with high culture, defining high culture as "that complex of skills which makes a man competent to occupy most of the ordinary positions in a modern society" (p. 89).

It is understandable that nearly all nations have a form of culture - their traditions, history, etc. - but it is not as clear why "nationalism is about entry to, participation in, identification with, a literate high culture" (p. 95). He continues to emphasize the importance of literacy throughout his discussion of the prerequisites of a nation. However, there is at least one possible exception to this equation of nationalism with literate high culture - the ante-bellum American South. While not a separate state, the South clearly had a form of nationality which it did not share with the rest of the United States. The South perpetuated its distinctive culture of slave holding, chivalrous behavior, and opposition to the central government, while remaining a largely illiterate and agrarian society. Although the Southerners may have had what Gellner would term a 'high culture,' it was clearly not a literate high culture. Despite the fact that the American South did not become its own state (at least not on a permanent basis), there was, at this time, a distinctly Southern nationalism. Both North and South were operating from a belief that they were the true exemplars of American national ideals. With the ending of the Civil War, it was generally accepted that the Northerners had the correct understanding of our nation's ideals, but even this has not completely extinguished the idea of Southern identity.

Although Gellner's definitions of the necessary aspects of a nation are helpful, it seems that they are not universal. Overall, they are best applied to existing European states and Gellner's own fictitious models, such as the Ruritanians. Despite minor gaps in his explanations, Gellner's study of conditions which bring about nationalism and the components of nationalism is certainly more than adequate.