ABSTRACT
This year it must be clear to all of us that nationalism, far from being dead, is one of the most powerful forces in contemporary political life. The daily news, from the horrific events in the area which was once Yugoslavia, to the national and ethnic conflicts which threaten to break up the CIS, to the new cries for ‘Germany for the Germans’, all remind us that the death of state socialisms and the remapping of Europe has provided the opportunity for the rebirth of new nationalisms. At a more local and less serious level the British political parties find themselves unable to deal with the deep splits in their own ranks on the question of British ‘national sovereignty’ and Britain's relation to Europe. Being for or against Europe does not neatly coincide with allegiance to one or other of the major parties and issues about national identity are daily sharply debated in the press, on radio and on television. Indeed, ‘national identity’ and what is meant by that has become a hot topic. How national identity might relate to gender, however, is a less central subject.
