A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Globalization: Nationalism, Meet Religion

For nearly a century scholars have recognized nationalism as a dominant force in the modern world. Among the early notable analyses was that of Carlton J.H. Hayes, who begins by asserting: "The most significant emotional factor in public life today is nationalism. Of the current age it is the mark at once intense and universal" (Hayes 1933, 1). Is it dormant anywhere in the second decade of the twenty-first century? There is, understandably, a glut of theoretical, comparative, and synthetic treatments of nationalism from a number of disciplines. Furthermore, the historiography on nationalism for nearly every conceivable ethnic-national entity, past and present, and their subgroups and transformations is mind-boggling. The brief bibliographies following each of the chapters in The Call of the Homeland, alone, as a guide to this plethora of material, would justify its purchase for each and every library. (There will be further remarks concerning the cost of this book, as it pertains to its potential audience and impact.)

It is no coincidence that scholars of modern history embarked on a closer scrutiny of "diasporas" in the wake of the attempted annihilation of the most obviously "diasporic" of entities, the Armenians in World War I and the Jews in World War II, who were in large measure targeted by national movements. These are two of the peoples, along with Greeks, that anchor the opening theoretical discussion by Anthony D. Smith (3-25), who might be considered dean of the academic study of nationalism. Most writing on nationalism acknowledges the work of Smith (2000), Ernest Gellner (1998), and Terrence Ranger (Hobsbawm and Ranger 1992) in its intellectual genealogy, while the choice of gurus from "memory studies" and "theory" to (ostensibly) cold facts and figures is immense. Given the mass migrations beginning in the nineteenth century with discernible "national" traces, such as those from Ireland and Italy, and continuing waves of emigration as consequences of decolonization and globalization, it is little wonder that we hear, quite often, of "diaspora nationalism." One need not imagine herself or himself as part of a particular diasporic community to be touched by manifestations of transplanted ethnic-national cultures. "You don't have to be Jewish," the ad proclaimed, "to love Levy's rye bread." Many commentators have noted the irony that some of the stereotypical non-Jews depicted as munching on Levy's were, in fact, Jews. But the fact remains that rye bread, bagels, and other so-called Jewish foods—arguably more generically east European than "Jewish" (Balinska 2008)—became a staple extending beyond Jewish realms. Likewise, "Chinese food" is ubiquitous in Europe and North America. Turbans and head-scarves, which signify their wearers as distinctive among the majority cultures of much of the Western world, are commonplace. The Economist, in the summer of 2012, was inspired to produce "A 12-page special report on Judaism and the Jews" ("Special Report" 2012) at least in part because of the conspicuousness of yarmulkes in Central Europe, where the pre-Holocaust communities had been utterly devastated.

One may interject that these remarks have flown off the rails. What began with nationalism has turned into religion. Is this an improper conflation?

Is it an even greater compounded sin to mix nation, religion, and diaspora? These are precisely the kinds of problems that The Call of the Homeland: Diaspora Nationalisms, Past and Present, edited by Allon Gal, Athena S. Leoussi, and Anthony D. Smith, seeks to unpack.

It has become something of a convention to qualify anthologies, especially of work originating in conferences, as being of uneven quality. Despite the fact that the conference was held some years ago, in June 2007, the articles are overwhelmingly first-rate and have not been eclipsed by world events. Among the most outstanding is the substantial chapter by Donald Harman Akenson, "Diaspora, the Irish, and Irish Nationalism." Although his body of work is certain to...