ABSTRACT
The history of those societies such as in Asia, medieval or early modern Japan and Thailand or, in Europe, medieval Poland, where the category of nation could justifiably be used, certainly merits discussion. The history of other societies such as ancient and medieval China and early modern Germany pose difficulties in delineating at any particular time nation from empire. A careful study of nations in world history should expose the limitations of what remains the burden of an analytical tradition that has been an obstacle to both appreciating the variability of the nation as a social relation, and the recognition of nations in earlier historical periods. There are complications that pose problems for the functionalist accounting for the existence of a national culture. It should be clear that the contribution of law and religion to the continuity and stability of a society is not as straightforward as is apparently suggested by functionalism.
