This edited volume examines the critical issues of the 21st century through the prism of Ernest Gellner’s work. The contributors look critically at Gellner´s legacy, questioning whether he remains an inspiration for today’s social theorists. Chapters proactively probe Gellner’s thoughts on a variety of pressing topics―modernity, postcolonialsm, nationalism, and more―without losing sight of current debates on these issues. This volume further brings these debates to life by having each chapter followed by a comment by an academic peer of the chapter author, thus transforming the text into a lively and dynamic conversation.
Author(s): Petr Skalník
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
Year: 2022
Language: English
Pages: 603
City: Cham
Preface
Acknowledgements
Contents
Notes on Contributors
List of Figures
List of Tables
Introduction: Gellner’s Legacy Continues to Inspire
The Legacy of Ernest Gellner
Historical Perspectives
Theoretical Issues
Gellner on History
Gellner and Anthropology
Gellner and Nationalism
Discussion and Conclusion
References
Part I: Historical Perspectives
Chapter 1: Gellner and the Habsburg Window on Modernity
Prefatory Remarks: Habsburg Forever?
The Polarization of Modernity
The Habsburg Conundrum
Excursus: Alternative Partings of the Ways
The Assault on Wittgenstein
The Spengler Connection
Malinowski and His Legacy
Concluding Remarks: Anthropology after Malinowski
Comment on Johann P. Arnason’s ‘Gellner and the Habsburg Window on Modernity’
References
References
Chapter 2: Postcolonialism as a Possibility: A Dialogue That Never Happened
What They Shared
How They Differed
Programmatic Divergence
Deductive Empiricism Versus Discourse Analysis
Taking the Dialogue a Step Further
Comment on Thomas Hylland Eriksen’s ‘Postcolonialism as a Possibility: A Dialogue That Never Happened’
References
Chapter 3: The Persistence of the Individualism Debate Today
Two Philosophical Projects
Comments on Ian Jarvie’s ‘The Persistence of the Individualism Debate Today’
References
References
Part II: Theoretical Issues
Chapter 4: Ernest Gellner and the Limits of Understanding
Further Thoughts on Ernest Gellner, May 2021
Comment on Alan Macfarlane’s ‘Ernest Gellner and the Limits of Understanding’
References
Further Resources
Chapter 5: Computational and Data-Driven Gellnerian Social Theory: From the Transition to Modernity to a Disenchanted Future
Introduction
Computational Social Science
Gellner’s Explanation of the Transition to Industrial Society
Explaining Patterns of Inequality Within the Modern Era of Globalizations
Climate Change and the Future of Planetary Boundaries
Implications and Conclusion
Comment on Ralph Schroeder’s ‘Computational and Data-Driven Gellnerian Social Theory: From the Transition to Modernity to a Disenchanted Future’
References
References
Chapter 6: A Critique of Gellner’s Neo-Liberalism: Economy, Equality, Epistemology
Introduction: Conditions of Liberty and Civil Society
Gellner’s Liberalism
Real World Neo-Liberalism
The Open Society Imaginary
Conclusion
Comment on Chris Hann’s ‘A Critique of Gellner’s Neo-Liberalism: Economy, Equality, Epistemology’
Reference
In Defence of Ernest Gellner: Comments on Chris Hann’s ‘A Critique of Gellner’s Neo-Liberalism: Economy, Equality, Epistemology’
References
References
Chapter 7: Gellner in the Anthropocene: Modernity, Nationalism and Climate Change
Introduction
Timing and the Wisdom of Insight
Futures: The Certainty of Climate Change, the Uncertainty of Human Survival
Climate Change and Nationalism
From Agriculture to Industrialism; From Globalization to the Anthropocene
Climate Denial, Postmodernism and Relativism: Is It All About the Narrative?
A Chronology of the Constant Potlatch
Modernity’s Asymmetries
When Did the Anthropocene Begin?
Relativism Is Back: Alternative Dating
Hard Sciences and Hard Data: 1945
Industrial Society or Consumerist Potlatch?
Conclusion: The Anthropocene’s Shift from Historical to Geological Time
Comment on Daniele Conversi’s ‘Gellner in the Anthropocene: Modernity, Nationalism and Climate Change’
References
Chapter 8: Ernest Gellner and Populism
Populism as Facile Intellectual Temptation
Populism as a Danger Inherent in Nationalism
Populism as Method: An Invitation to Ethnography
Conclusion
Comment on David Gellner’s ‘Ernest Gellner and Populism’
References
References
Part III: Gellner on History
Chapter 9: Gellner and the Historians
Gellner as Seen by Historians
The Disciplinary Approach
The Underdetermination of the Theory
Gellner’s Theory Applied to History
The Shadow Effect of Industrialization
Adapting Gellner’s Theory of Nationalism in European History
What Gellner Actually Said
Nationalism and Equality
Nationalism and Industrialization
Nationalism and Homogeneity
Uneven Development
Gellner, Marxism and Violence
Material Interest
Later Formulations of Gellner’s Theory
Gellner’s Jewish and Czech Background
What Gellner Did Not Say
Weaknesses of the Theory
Conclusion
Comment on Guido Franzinetti’s ‘Gellner and the Historians’
References
Chapter 10: War, Violence and Group Solidarity: From Ibn Khaldun to Ernest Gellner and Beyond
Introduction
Group Solidarity and Organised Violence in the Pre-Modern World
Organised Violence, Social Cohesion and Modernity
War and Social Ties: Beyond Ibn Khaldun and Gellner
Conclusion
Comment on Siniša Malešević’s ‘War, Violence and Group Solidarity: From Ibn Khaldun to Ernest Gellner and Beyond’
References
Chapter 11: The Importance of Reading Ernest: Historical Methodologies as Hidden Resources for Anthropology
Local and Regional History
Global and World History
Interregional and Cross-Continental Developments
Conclusion and Afterthought
Comments on Andre Gingrich’s ‘The Importance of Reading Ernest: Historical Methodologies as Hidden Resources for Anthropology’
Anti-Saidism
In the Anthropocene
End of History: Or End of Capitalism?
References
References
Chapter 12: Ernest Gellner and Debates About World History Periodization
Comments on Nikolay N. Kradin’s ‘Ernest Gellner and Debates About World History Periodization’
References
Chapter 13: Islam, Plato and Protestantism: Gellner in North Africa
Plato’s Paradigm and Abrahamic Monotheism
The Ulemas-Saints Antagonism
Scriptural Islam and Protestantism
From the Ulemas to Islamism
Comment on Lahouari Addi’s ‘Islam, Plato and Protestantism: Gellner in North Africa’
References
Part IV: Gellner and Anthropology
Chapter 14: The Philosopher of Anthropology
Cause and Meaning in Social Science: Theory
Cause and Meaning in Social Science: Practice
Conclusion
Comment on John A. Hall’s ‘The Philosopher of Anthropology’
References
References
Chapter 15: Ernest Gellner as Anthropologist
I
II
III
Comment on Adam Kuper’s ‘Ernest Gellner as Anthropologist’
References
Chapter 16: Gellner: Right and Wrong
Introductory
The Influence of Popper
The Open Society and Its Enemies
Into Social Anthropology
Gellner and Muslim Society
The Turkish Case
Turkey and the European Union
Tribal Rebellion and Segmentary Lineage Systems
Gellner and North Africa
Conclusion
Comment on David Shankland’s ‘Gellner: Right and Wrong’
References
Chapter 17: Re-visiting Gellner’s Social Theory in Reference to the Turkish Case
Mardin’s and Gellner’s Theses Compared
Gellner’s Trajectories on Turkish Polity for the Twenty-First Century
Back to the Kurdish Case
Comment on Lale Yalçın-Heckmann’s ‘Re-visiting Gellner’s Social Theory in Reference to the Turkish Case’
References
Part V: Gellner and Nationalism
Chapter 18: After Ernest Gellner: Nationalism and Nation-states Today
Introduction
Diminishing Nation-states?
The Changing Characteristics of Nation-states
Globalization and Contemporary Nation-states
Alternatives to Nation-states?
Conclusion
Comment on Anatoly Khazanov’s ‘After Ernest Gellner: Nationalism and Nation-states Today’
References
Chapter 19: Nation-Building in Aging Taiwan: A Gellnerian Perspective
Introduction
Ernest Gellner’s Legacy with Chinese Characteristics
Understanding Taiwaneseness through Gellner
Aging of Nationalism as Political Axis
Conclusion
Comment on Adam Horálek’s ‘Nation-Building in Aging Taiwan: A Gellnerian Perspective’
References
Chapter 20: Gellner’s Theory of Nationalism and the Study of Silesianess
Gellner’s Theory of Nationalism and Silesianess
Critiques and Expanders
Various Shades of Silesianess
Conclusion
Comment on Grażyna Kubica’s ‘Gellner’s Theory of Nationalism and the Study of Silesianess’
References
Chapter 21: The Politics of Ethnicization: Political Subjectivities of Nation States in Relation to the Polish Minority in Central Eastern Europe
Contested Territories and Pasts: ‘Native Poles’ vis-à-vis ‘Polonized Lithuanians’
The Ethnification of National Culture via Ethnic Monoculturalism
Ascriptive Ethnicity in Soviet and Post-Soviet Passports
Kinship Documentation: The Polish Card
Resilient Localism Against Majoritarian Ethnification
Conclusion
Comment on Vytis Čiubrinskas’ ‘The Politics of Ethnicization: Political Subjectivities of Nation States in Relation to the Polish Minority in Central Eastern Europe’
References
Chapter 22: From Interdependence to Disjunction: Gellner’s Theory and the Development of the Interrelationship Between the Concepts of Nation and Nationalism
Introduction
Continual and Discontinual Existence of the Concepts Nations and Nationalism
Changing Distances of the Concepts Nation and Nationalism
Modernism and Relating the Word Nationalism to Nations
Nationalism After Modernism
Conclusion
Comment on Zdeněk Uherek’s ‘From Interdependence to Disjunction: Gellner’s Theory and the Development of the Interrelationship Between the Concepts of Nation and Nationalism
References
References
General Comments on Chapters by Vytis Čiubrinskas, Guido Franzinetti, David Gellner, Chris Hann, Graz·yna Kubica, Zdeněk Uherek, and Ralph Schroeder
Modernity and Its Discontents: Comments on Chapters by David Shankland, Johann Arnason, Daniele Conversi, Ian Jarvie, Alan Macfarlane, and Adam Horálek
References
General Comments on Chapters by Thomas Hylland Eriksen, Grażyna Kubica, John A. Hall, Siniša Malešević, Nikolay N. Kradin, Anatoly Khazanov, Andre Gingrich, and Lahouari Addi
Name Index
Subject Index
