This volume draws on some of the developments in social theory to examine the different dimensions of nation and nationalism in contemporary Wales. It considers whether or not people have a clear sense of what a national identity might be.

A perennial subject for sociologists, nationalism, the focus of this study, is persistent, not merely because of its specific ideological appeal, but because it expresses some of the major conflicts in Western social development.

The Handbook of Social Theory presents an authoritative and panoramic critical survey of the development, achievement and prospects of social theory.

National identity plays an increasingly important role in Western, liberal democracies. Thus, immigration and diversity are often considered a threat to national identities and restrictions on immigration and nation-building policies are being implemented in response. Specifically, it has been suggested that diversity drives down social cohesion and thus the ties that bind people together in stable, democratic welfare states. National Identity and Social Cohesion considers the role of national identity in contemporary societies and in particular its significance for social cohesion. National identity impacts perceptions of belongingness, which again impact considerations of deservingness. Perceptions of deservingness, in turn, play an important role for solidarity within the framework of a welfare state. Furthermore, immigration, and the associated questions of belongingness, have been a driver in processes of political polarization. In some cases, political leaders frame minorities as a threat to the nation state warranting a departure from liberal democratic institutions. This book considers questions such as: What role does national identity, more precisely, play for political polarization? Do national identities mediate/moderate the impact of diversity on social cohesion, including trust and solidarity? Has identity politics contributed to a politics of resentment and can more inclusive national identities serve to diminish polarization? In the book, these and other questions about the relation between national identity, belonging and social cohesion are considered by a number of prominent scholars in the field.

Why is national identity such a potent force in people's lives? And is the force positive or negative? In this thoughtful and provocative book, Elizabeth Theiss-Morse develops a social theory of national identity and uses a national survey, focus groups, and experiments to answer these important questions in the American context. Her results show that the combination of group commitment and the setting of exclusive boundaries on the national group affects how people behave toward their fellow Americans. Strong identifiers care a great deal about their national group. They want to help and to be loyal to their fellow Americans. By limiting who counts as an American, though, these strong identifiers place serious limits on who benefits from their pro-group behavior. Help and loyalty are offered only to 'true Americans,' not Americans who do not count and who are pushed to the periphery of the national group.

This book examines the development of opposed Nationalist and Unionists identities as products of different economies, symbolically represented in religious differences, that impelled conflicting cultures and ideals of best interest that were fundamentally incompatible within a single identity.

This book looks at the fundamental components of national identity as understood by ordinary nation members, and the way in which it is mobilised by political elites. Drawing on an original case comparison between Wales and the Basque Country, the author suggests there are many commonalities between these two nations, particularly around the fundamentals of their national identities. However, differences occur in terms of degree of intensity of feeling and around the politicisation of identity, with more entrenched and hostile political positioning in the Basque Country than Wales. Through a multi-level comparison, the book generates insights into national identity as a theoretical concept and in a ‘stateless nation’ context. It argues for national identity's intangible, yet polemical, nature, looking at the primordialist way it is understood, its permanence and importance, coupled with its lack of everyday salience and consequent obligations.