Nationalism and Conflict Management

This book addresses a gap in the literature by demonstrating how a nuanced and contextualized understanding of nationalism can inform the theory and practice of ethno-national conflict management. What is often lost in the theory of ethno-national conflict management is that nationalism studies is characterized by a series of debates; the theory and practice of ethno-national conflict management needs to better account for these debates to be successful. The authors here strive to make linkages between these two interdisciplinary fields to drive related theory forward. The book consists of a theoretical overview followed by three case studies. The cases have been selected in line with number of criteria: both ‘hot’ and ‘cold’ conflict zones in the developed and developing world are included. This broad overview allows for a comparison between: so-called settled conflicts that inform theory and practice (Canada); a case where conflict has been curiously absent despite considerable ethnic diversity (Tanzania); and, a recently hot conflict zone, which has been the focus of attempts to import conflict management mechanisms (Sri Lanka). Through a diversity of cases and approaches, the authors all seek to demonstrate that a contextualized understanding of the phenomenon of nationalism can have significant implications for ethno-national conflict management. This book was originally published as a special issue of Commonwealth and Comparative Politics