Nationalism and the Economy

Explorations into a Neglected Relationship

Description
Table of contents
Reviews

This book is the first attempt to bridge the divide between studies addressing “economic nationalism” as a deliberate ideology and movement of economic “nation-building,” and the literature concerned with more diffuse expressions of economic “nationness” – from national economic symbols and memories to the “banal” world of product advertising. The editors draw attention to the importance of economic issues for the study of nations and nationalism, and the relative neglect of this relationship in contemporary scholarship.

The authors of the essays come from disciplines as diverse as economic and cultural history, political science, business studies, as well as sociology and anthropology. Their chapters address the nationalism-economy nexus in a variety of realms, including trade, foreign investment, and national control over resources, as well as consumption, migration, and welfare state policies. Some of the case studies have a historical focus on nation-building in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, while others are concerned with contemporary developments. Several contributions provide in-depth analyses of single cases while others are comparative. The geographical focus of the contributions vary widely, although most deal with European countries.

1. Introduction by Stefan Berger and Thomas Fetzer

PART I: Surveys
2. Historians, Nationalism Studies, and the Economy by Stefan Berger
3. Nationalism in Political Economy Scholarship by Thomas Fetzer
PART II: Case Studies
4. Visions of Europe: European Integration and its Origins in Nineteenth Century Economic Thinking about Nation-Building by Harold James
5. Theoretical and Historical Reflections on Economic Nationalism in Germany and the United States in the Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries by Andreas Etges
6. Land Regimes in Nation-Building Processes and Nation-States: The Case of Israel in Comparative Perspective by Jacob Metzer
7. Disparities and Economic Nationhood in Yugoslavia by Žarko Lazarević
8. Pro-Urban Welfare in an Agricultural Country? Economic Nationalism and Welfare Regime Problems of Fit: Lessons from Interwar Romania by Sergiu Delcea
9. Nationalizing Consumption: Products, Brands, and Nations by Oliver Kühschelm
10. Nation Branding and Nationalism by Mads Mordhorst
11. National Interests and Foreign Direct Investment in East-Central Europe after 1989 by Vera Šćepanović
12. Economic Nationhood and International Migration: The Case of China by Pál Nyíri

PART III: Beyond the Nation?
13. Embedding the Social Question into International Order: Economic Thought and the Origins of Neoliberalism in the 1930s by Hagen Schulz-Forberg
14. Economic Europeanness by Thomas Fetzer

Francia-Recensio

"Many of the authors share the constructivist approach of nationalism and the volume is innovative as it applies this constructivism not only on culture and politics, as is mostly done, but also on the economy. The volume offers a broad perspective on »economic nationalism«. The interdisciplinary character of the book, written by historians and social scientist is stimulating."

https://journals.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/index.php/frrec/article/view/75655/69363

H-Net Reviews in the Humanities & Social Sciences

"Stefan Berger and Thomas Fetzer have assembled a team of a dozen authors to tackle the question, through a mixture of literature reviews and case studies. They rightly argue that nationalism scholars tend to focus on state power and cultural representation at the expense of economics, while economists in turn largely overlook the question of nationalism. One of the central arguments in the book is that economic nationalism should be understood as a broader phenomenon than mere protectionism—the creation of tariff and other barriers to deter foreign trade and investment."

http://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php

Slavic Review

"The volume gives a good overview of historical and economic thought related to economic nationalism. It interestingly highlights the German nineteenth century experience as a model of both policies promoting economic growth for the increased international economic competition and ideology legitimizing the lower classes’ sacrifices that accompany this growth. In the numerous case studies from past and present Europe, the US, Israel, and China, the unifying and most revealing element is the similarity of policy and ideology-related dilemmas that Germany underwent in the nineteenth century. These case studies demonstrate the importance of the German model, sometimes without acknowledging it, while discussing land, population, and diaspora policies, attitudes toward foreign investment capital, national branding in export promotion, and consumption and welfare policies in various developing countries."