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Define a Nation

It could be argued that in Ireland Catholics and Protestants are united by the nation of Christianity but this has not led to solidarity, just bloodshed. Therefore Webbers definition is very vague and has many flaws but does give us a further understanding of the definition of "nation" .
             In contrast Eric Hobsbawm argues that neither objective nor subjective definitions are thus satisfactory and both can be misleading. This can be seen in his book "Nations and Nationalism since 1870" as Hobsbawm gives no definition of what constitutes a nation. This would seem to definitely give weight to the argument that it may not be possible to define a nation or at least give a credible or substantial definition to which would be accepted. As I stated in my introduction, an initial working assumption is that any sufficiently large body of people whose members regard themselves as part of a "nation" will be treated as such. Critics argue however that whether such a body of people does so regard itself, it cannot be established simply by consulting writers or political spokesmen of organisations claiming the status of nation for it. Nationalism and nation can be confused as the word nation is today used so widely and imprecisely. The approach of Hobsbawm's book "Nations and Nationalism" is that it pays particular attention to the changes and transformations of the concept, particular towards the end of the 19th century.
             From reading Hobsbawm book he seems to be unsure of his position on whether it is or is not possible to define a nation as he argues that definitions are not satisfactory but also gives the reader loose definitions of "nation". Hobsbawm does not regard the nation as a primary nor as an unchanging social entity. It belongs exclusively to a particular and historically recent period. It is a social entity only insofar as both relate to it. He continues that nations exist not as functions of a particular kind of territorial state or the aspiration to establish one-broadly speaking the citizen state of the French revolution but also in the context of a particular stage of technological and economic development.


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