Throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, ethnonationalism has left its indelible mark on Europe and every other continent. The latest events in the Balkans, in central and eastern Europe, and in the former Soviet Union unequivocally testify to the power and influence of ethnonationalism at the end of the second millennium. What forces make people so committed to their ethnonational groups that they are ready to ignore all other concerns, first and foremost the rights and interests of people of other ethnicities? What is the social psychological and anthropological underpinning of ethnonationalism? And finally; why and how do people adhere to nation alist attitudes and beliefs? These questions are virtually impossible to avoid for anyone who has directly felt the impact of ethnonationalism, but they also present them selves to anyone who has indirectly experienced the prejudices unleashed by ethnonationalist forces. This book attempts to answer all these questions by focusing on national feeling and the social psychological and anthropological founda tions that underly the sense of belonging that is essential to nationalism. No matter how qualitatively different nationalist attitudes and beliefs are from national sentiment, the latter has to be considered in any study of national ism.

Kecmanovic deals with the phenomenon of ethnonationalism, both as a broad, worldwide concern and as a key ingredient to the struggles in the former Yugoslavia. As in the former Yugoslavia, the rise of ethnonationalistic sentiments and attitudes coincided with the transition from a state-and party-run affair to a new, post-communist type of government and society. Drawing upon his personal experiences in Sarajevo, Kecmanovic provides a unique view of the conflict. In a style accessible to students and general readers, he traces the transformations of leading principles, value systems, behavioral patterns, and views of people in times of severe ethnic tensions. At times nearly novelistic, the book examines epidemic ethnonationalism and individual manifestations such as violence toward members of other groups, beliefs that ethnic differences are genetic, a need to aggrandize and even manufacture differences between communities.

In contrast to other disciplines, social psychology has been slow in responding to the questions posed by the issue of ethnicity. The Social Psychology of Ethnic Identity demonstrates the important contribution that psychology can make. The central aim of this book is to show, on the one hand, that social psychology can be used to develop a better understanding of ethnicity and, on the other hand, that increased attention to ethnicity can benefit social psychology, filling in theoretical and empirical gaps. Based on recent research, The Social Psychology of Ethnic Identity brings an original approach to subjects such as: * ethnic minority identity: place, space and time * hyphenated identities and hybridity * self-descriptions and the ethnic self. The combination of diverse approaches to this burgeoning field will be of interest to social psychologists as well as those interested in issues of identity, ethnicity and migration.

Drawing on a substantial body of evidence, Maykel Verkuyten takes us on a fascinating journey looking at ethnic identity in contemporary western European societies. Reading this book is like participating in a social psychological debate that you don't wish to end. The author invites social psychologists to think over our theories and research on ethnicity and identity and provides us with ideas for future research. Its publication enriches the discipline of social psychology and contributes to our understanding of the societies in which we live. Scholars and students alike will gain much from reading it. Xenia Chryssochoou, Department of Psychology, Panteion University, Athens Questions of ethnicity, migration, identity and multi-culturalism are hotly debated in many countries and societies. Ethnicity has become a major feature of social structure, everyday interaction, self-understandings, and political debates and conflicts around the world. Ethnic diversity challenges the existing social hierarchies and exclusionary conceptions of citizenship, but also leads to a new tribalism that threatens democracy and social cohesion. The Social Psychology of Ethnic Identity aims to show th

This electronic version has been made available under a Creative Commons (BY-NC-ND) open access license. Comparing and contrasting propaganda in Serbia and Croatia from 1986 to 1999, this book analyses each group's contemporary interpretations of history and current events. It offers a detailed discussion of Holocaust imagery and the history of victim-centred writing in nationalist theory, including the links between the comparative genocide debate, the so-called Holocaust industry, and Serbian and Croatian nationalism. There is a detailed analysis of Serbian and Croatian propaganda over the Internet, detailing how and why the Internet war was as important as the ground wars in Kosovo, Croatia and Bosnia-Hercegovina, and a theme-by-theme analysis of Serbian and Croatian propaganda, using contemporary media sources, novels, academic works and journals.