Nationalism and the City
Nationalism and the City
Friday, 10 February 2012 to Saturday, 11 February 2012
CRASSH, 7 West Road, Cambridge
Blame it, perhaps, on a hangover from nationalism’s early mingling with European romantics, but the primacy of ‘the rural’ in nationalist imaginaries remains well established, recurring in political and cultural discourse as the fundamental site of national authenticity, tradition and identity. This tendency has resulted in a distortion of nationalism’s crucial yet ambivalent relationship with the pastoral inverse – the smoky, crowded, dynamic space of ‘the urban’ – and despite the usual eagerness of scholars to dismantle any and all ‘myths’ propagated by nationalist paradigms, very little has been done to theorize this pivotal interplay between nationalism and the city.
Paper proposals for this conference are now being accepted and will be considered if submitted before the deadline of 1 October 2011. Please send an abstract of no more than 250 words to nationalismandthecity@gmail.com.Proposals creatively addressing aspects of the above conference summary are most welcome. Applicants are especially encouraged to engage with the existing theoretical literature on nations, nationalism and the city.