THE NATION-STATE, NATURALISM AND POLITICA L IDENTITY - PROPOSAL FOR ASCHOLARLY AGENDA

The issues of nationalism, the European order of nation-states and the role of group identity are high on both the political and the scholar ly agenda of our time. Although there is a rich scholarly literature o n these topics, there remain important areas of doubt and obscurity. T his article sets out to explore both political realities and to assess the current state of theoretical and empirical research. The enquiry is structured by the three inter-related topics presented in the title . It looks in turn at the viability of the nation-state in the current period, the relationship of nationalism and modernity, and the ever-s hifting categories and salience of group identities. In contradiction with some currently accepted theorising, the article finds grounds for concluding that the days of the nation-state are not necessarily comi ng to an end. While accepting much of the basis of mainstream theory o n nationalism, the article also suggests that the relationship between nationalism and modernity may be overestimated by some of the leading figures. And in the literature on identity, the article concludes tha t it has become commonplace to acknowledge the multiple levels and cat egories of identity - it is the shift from one to another that especia lly needs further attention. In relation to each of the three parallel themes, the article identifies frameworks and strategies for research along the most theoretically fruitful and politically relevant lines of enquiry.