ABSTRACT
Nationalism continues to have enormous power. The formulation that it has weakened or would weaken in a modern and globalised context needs to be viewed in a problematical manner. There are instances of nationalist resurgence not only in the so-called underdeveloped countries but also in highly developed and modern countries. The power that nationalism demonstrates now and then continues to demand our attention in terms of analysing and explaining it. This chapter, while broadly subscribing to Ernest Gellner's account of nation and nationalism, finds certain serious problems with it and suggests a possible way in which it can be reformulated to make it a more meaningful, satisfactory and relevant theoretical paradigm.
