But what, first, is a nation-state? Quite simply, it is a nation that lives within its own state, with its own form and structure of government, its own army, etc. A nation state involves a unified political structure that establishes laws within particular boundaries. What is important is that the people who live within these boundaries are all understood as being homogenous in some ways, as sharing a common identity–whether speech, religion, political philosophy, etc. In other words, a nation can be synonymous with an ethnos. This is precisely where the problem lies.
Are we justified in calling common the identity, history and destiny of a nation? Can the modern states that make up Europe today truly be considered “ethnic states?” Do France, Germany, Italy, Spain really exist as such, each people bound by a common identity, which would be separate from the other–even while they all exist within the Western cultural sphere? In other words, have they always existed as such? To answer this question involves taking into account the construction of identity and historical consciousness.
–continued in Part II–
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