ABSTRACT
In the West, the nation and the state emerged together. From the time of the French and American Revolutions, the ‘nation-state’ became the predominant, and soon almost the only legitimate form of political organisation, as well as the dominant vehicle of collective identity. Given the West’s pioneering role, and its superior power, those areas colonised by the European powers also witnessed the emergence of nations pari passu with the colonial states which they established in Africa and Asia. Colonialism has also been the primary source of nationhood in Latin America, where the administrative provinces of the Spanish and Portuguese empires formed the basis, and provided the boundaries, for the subsequent post-colonial states and hence for their nations.
