Nationalist Movements Explained

This book examines nationalist movements in four ethnically plural countries, one of which has no previous experience of such movements at the national level. Presenting comparisons of the cases of Canada, Belgium, Switzerland, and Spain, including descriptions of the social, economic, and political contexts in each country, the author investigates the various determinants of each movement, shedding new light on what accounts for ethnic conflict and harmony. With attention to the degrees of equality and inequality among the various ethnic groups in each society, the extent to which these segments are fragmented and the degree to which there is internal communal integration, this volume also examines the particular roles played by political parties and resources in nationalist movements. A unique contribution to social movement theory based on important comparative analyses, this work will appeal to scholars of sociology and politics with interests in ethnic mobilization and contemporary social movements.

Maurice Pinard is Emeritus Professor in the Department of Sociology at McGill University, Canada. He is the author of The Rise of a Third Party: A Study in Crisis Politics and Motivational Dimensions in Social Movements and Contentious Collective Action.