Wars that Make States and Wars that Make Nations

Organised Violence, Nationalism and State Formation in the Balkans

Bibliographic Data

ID4776649
AuthorsSiniša Malešević (0000-0002-1864-6382, University College Dublin, corresponding author)
Year2012
Volume53
Issue1
Pages31-63
Publication date2012-04-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueEuropean Journal of Sociology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0003-9756 • E-ISSN: 1474-0583
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s0003975612000021
OpenAlexW2031555039
LanguageEN
Citations received17
References cited55

Since the beginning of the 19th century the Balkans has been a synonym for aggressive nationalism and unbridled violence; the two phenomena traditionally understood to be the key obstacles for its social development. This paper contests such views by arguing that it was the absence of protracted warfare and coherent nationalist doctrines that distinguishes the history of South Eastern Europe from the rest of the continent. Drawing critically on bellicose historical sociology and modernist theories of nationalism - with a spotlight on the work of Charles Tilly and Ernest Gellner. Drawing critically on bellicose historical sociology and modernists theories of nationalism the paper makes a case that it was not the abundance of nationalism and organised violence but rather their historical scarcity that proved decisive for the slow pace of social development in the Balkans

Geography · Nationalism · Pace · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Sociology · State (computer science) · Balkans: History, Politics, Society · Central European national history · Italian Fascism and Post-war Society · Law

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