ABSTRACT
This chapter diacusses a point of view which has insidiously penetrated a good number of arguments on the origins and growth of nationalism. It also discusses the assumption that capitalism is the deus ex machina of modernity, and that nationalism, as part of this modernity, is its necessary outcome. A common denominator of recent theories has been the centrality of the state, conceived as a more or less autonomous entity, in the generation of nationalism. The issue here, which seems to escape vulgar materialists, both of Marxist and non-Marxist persuasions, is that the complexity of nationalism precludes such simplistic assumptions. Returning now to Hechter's theory it was obvious from the start that even as a regional – European – theory of ethnonationalism it was plagued with glaring anomalies. The industrialization advanced in its uneven way, the internal differences became more accentuated; ethnonationalism emerged as a response to a situation of perceived dependence and exploitation.
