CfP (conference): 27th ASEN Annual Conference Anthony D. Smith and the Future of Nationalism: Ethnicity, Religion and Culture 27-28 March 2017, London School of Economics

This two day conference commemorates and critically assesses the significance of the legacy of Anthony D. Smith, a foundational figure in the field of nationalism. It is an opportunity to consider where the field of nationalism stands today, the place of Smith within it, and the continuing relevance of Smith’s ethnosymbolic framework in analysing the formation, and persistence and revival, of nations and nationalism.

Anthony D. Smith’s oeuvre is as vast as the range of topics he covered. He published 18 books, translated into 22 languages, and over 100 articles and chapters in books on nations, nationalism and ethnicity. We encourage papers that engage with Smith’s work or address topics he was interested in. We propose to appraise his ethnosymbolic framework under three headings: premodern ethnic formations and the modern nation; religion and the nation; and culture in the formation, resurgence, and persistence of nations. Smith’s contribution can also be considered more generally, as he also helped systematise nationalism as a separate interdisciplinary field of study by identifying key questions, proposing definitions and typologies, and advancing future research agendas.

The conference welcomes papers on the state of nationalism theory today as well as current work on ethnicity, religion and culture in relation to nationalism. Proposals tying the aforementioned themes to Smith’s work will be favoured.

Each of the two days of the conference will be punctuated by relevant plenary sessions, given by distinguished academics.

A range of possible themes for papers is outlined below.

Please submit your abstract online at this link by the 13th November 2016.

Your abstract should be no longer than 250 words and should state your name and institutional affiliation. You should expect to speak for no more than 15 minutes. Please ensure that you highlight how your paper relates to the conference theme and its central questions.

Key themes:

• Theories of Nationalism Today
• Theories of Society in the Understanding of Nations: The Founding Fathers of Sociology and Theories of the Nation
• Nations before Nationalism?
• Ethnosymbolism and Modernism: The Debate
• Ethnic Cores and Dominant Ethnic Groups
• Ethnic and Civic Nations
• Warfare and National Commemoration
• Nations by Design? The Role of Popular Resonance in National Mobilisation
• Nationalism, Ontology and the Problem of Evil
• Nationalism as Surrogate Religion
• Chosen Peoples and National Missions
• The Hebrew Bible in European and American Nationalisms
• The Holocaust and Modern Zionism
• Researching National Identity: Above and Below
• The Vernacular Revolutions: Nationalism from Below
• Diaspora Nationalisms
• Myths, Symbols, Memories and Modern Nations
• Neo-classicism, Romanticism and Cultural Nationalism
• Global and National Cultures
• Ethnoscapes and Artists
• Music and Nationalism: Singing the Nation
• Old and New Nations and Nationalism(s)
• Nationalism and Education: Learning What?
• European Identity and the Nation

For any queries or additional information, please email conference@asen.ac.uk.