Michael Mann (1942–present) and Eric Hobsbawm (1919–present): Classes, nations and different conceptions of the nation-state

Michael Mann’s historical sociology is important to us here for two reasons. First, because he commences his impressive work on the Sources of Social Power

(1986, 1993a) by discussing whether the idea of society is the kind of analytical tool that may help him pursue his enterprise. Second, because he devoted explicit attention to the historical development of the nation-state via the linkage between classes and nations. On both grounds, I shall demonstrate, his arguments provide us with insightful resources.