Nationalism in Central and Eastern Europe: dilemmas and controversies

Join us for this exciting lecture delivered by Professor Erika Harris on the 13th of May

Tuesday 13 May 5pm (UK) | University of Liverpool, Room TBC | Free to Attend | Open to the public, and University of Liverpool staff and students

Speaker Information

Erika Harris  specializes  in studies of nations and nationalism in Central and Eastern Europe, post- Soviet space and the Balkans. Within this general area, her research increasingly focuses on the significance of borders - physical and symbolic - for understanding of nationalism, shaping of national identities, state policies and state behaviour, and the impact on the lives of those who live along or across these dividing lines ( see the forthcoming The Dilemma of Nationalism in Central and Eastern Europe, Bristol University Press, 2025). She has published: Nationalism Theories and Cases, Edinburgh University Press, 2009; Democracy in New Europe (with Christopher Lord), Palgrave Macmillan, 2006; Nationalism and Democratisation Politics of Slovakia and Slovenia, Routledge,2018. She has published articles in journals such as Europe-Asia Studies, East European Politics, Nationalism and Ethnic Politics and others, as well as several commentaries on political developments for media.

 Event Overview

Nationalism which proposes certain fixity between nation and the state is not unique to Central and Eastern Europe ( CEE); it is a universal ideology underpinning contemporary nation-states across Europe. There are however some differences between eastern and western part of the European continent which derive from very different historical and political development of Eastern  Europe. The focus  will be on one specificity of CEE – frequent changes of regimes and borders, dramatic national and personal experiences and insecurities of states and their populations, conflicts and wars ( including the war in Ukraine)  – all hugely impactful on nationalism and its many manifestations, politics and the interpretation of historical memory.  The aim of the lecture is threefold: i) to argue that we should not be  that surprised at nationalism’s ability to create and destroy  states and  destabilise whole regions generally, but specifically in CEE; ii) critically assess the assumptions of international politics and theories of nationalism so that geopolitical surprises are less surprising, and ultimately, iii) now, when the gap between two parts of Europe is narrowing, to understand dilemmas and controversies facing CEE better, lest there may be lessons there to learned for western countries.