Nation, State and the Economy in History

Originally published in 2003, this book addresses the rarely explored subject of the reciprocal relationships between nationalism, nation and state-building, and economic change. Analysis of the economic element in the building of nations and states cannot be confined to Europe, and therefore these diverse yet interlinked case-studies cover all continents. Authors come to contrasting conclusions, some regarding the economic factor as central, while others show that nation-states came into being before the constitution of a national market. The essays leave no doubt that the nation-state is an historical phenonemon and as such is liable to 'expiry' both through the process of globalisation and through the development of a 'cyber-society' which evades state control. By contrast, developments in southeastern Europe, the former USSR, and parts of Africa and the Far East show that building the nation-state has not run its course.

Table of Contents:
Introduction Alice Teichova and Herbert Matis; Part I: 1. Political structures and grand strategies for the growth of the British economy, 1688–1815 Patrick K. O'Brien; 2. Economic factors and the building of the French nation state François Crouzet; 3. Nation building in Germany: the economic dimension Gerd Hardach; 4. The harmony liberal era 1845–1880: the case of Norway and Sweden Göran B. Nilsson; 5. Nationalism in the epoch of organised capitalism: Norway and Sweden choosing different paths Francis Sejersted; 6. Economic development and the problems of the national state formation: the case of Spain Clara Eugenia Nùñez and Gabriel Tortella; Part II: 7. The state and economic development in Central and Eastern Europe David F. Good; 8. Concepts of economic integration in Austria during the twentieth century Ernst Bruckmüller and Roman Sandgruber; 9. The economy and the rise and fall of a small multinational state: Czechoslovakia, 1918–92 Václav Prucha; 10. Economic retardation, peasant farming and the nation state in the Balkans: Serbia, 1815–1912 and 1991–9 Michael Palairet; 11. National and non-national dimensions of economic development in nineteenth and twentieth century Russia Peter Gatrell and Boris Anan'ich; Part III: 12. Nation without a state and state without a nation: the case of Africa south of the Sahara Catherine Coquery-Vidrovitch; 13. The economic foundation of the nation state in Senegal Ibrahima Thioub; 14. From the Jewish national home to the state of Israel: some economic aspects of nation and state building Jacob Metzer; Part IV: 15. Economic change and the formation of states and nations in South Asia 1919–47: India and Pakistan B. R. Tomlinson; 16. State transformation, reforms and economic performance in China, 1840–1910 Kent G. Deng; 17. Japan's unstable course during her remarkable economic development Hidemasa Morikawa; Part V: 18. The state and economic growth in Latin America: Brazil and Mexico, nineteenth and early twentieth centuries Carlos Marichal and Steven Topik; 19. Building the Brazilian nation state: from colony to globalisation Domingos A. Giroletti; 20. The role of nationhood in the economic development of the USA Gavin Wright; 21. Economic policy and Australian state building: from labourist protectionism to globalisation Christopher Lloyd.

About the Author :
Alice Teichova is Emeritus Professor of Economic History, University of East Anglia, and an Honorary Fellow of Girton College, Cambridge. Herbert Matis is Professor of Economic History at the Wirtschaftsuniversitat, Vienna, and head of the Ludwig Boltzmann-Institute of Economic Process Analysis.

Review :
"...the editors and authors deserve praise for delivering a lively, clearly written discussion of an important theme, a significant addition to our understanding of fundamental social relationships and a model for future research." Business History Review "In general, as the authors are eminent economic historians they are aware that economies change over time." Journal of World History, Frank B. Tipton, University of Sydney