Skip to main content

Erika Harris

Followers

3

Following

3

Mentions

109

Public Views

I am a specialist on East and Central Europe generally, but specifically in studies of nationalism, post-communist democratisation, ethnic politics and ethnic conflict and issues associated identity construction.

less

Institute of European Studies, Belgrade, Serbia

University of Liverpool

University of Dubrovnik

Mladen Stojadinović

University of Belgrade

adnan mahmutovic

Al Yamamah

Mirjana Kasapović

Faculty of Political Sciences Belgrade

Benedict E DeDominicis

Catholic University of Korea

Ljubica Spaskovska

University of Exeter

Interests

Uploads

Papers by Erika Harris

Nacionalna Država I Europska Unija: Izgubljeni U Borbi Za Identitet

Politička misao : časopis za politologiju, Oct 4, 2011

This article, based on studies of nationalism, discusses identity formation in the European Union... more This article, based on studies of nationalism, discusses identity formation in the European Union and compares it to the nation-state. The starting point is that for all its economic benefits and political innovation, the EU is failing to provide people with the sense of belonging and extract political loyalty. By exploring what function identity serves-for the nation-state in the past and for the EU in the present-it is argued that while there are limits to the EU's ability to project a meaningful European identity, there are also limits to the nation-state's ability to meet the political challenges of contemporary societies. One way, and possibly the only way out of this 'battle for identity' is to acknowledge the real impact of the EU on the nation-state and open an honest debate by both European and national elites about which challenges of our time can be met by the EU and which are better kept at the national level. A better understanding of how people's national aspirations, concerns and political demands are mediated between different levels of governance may lead to adapting their identities accordingly-loyalty and passion for the EU may follow too.

Promoting Democracy in the New Europe

Democracy in the New Europe, 2006

Nationalism and democratisation

The implications from its findings are relevant for contemporary politics everywhere precisely be... more

Varieties of Democracy Within the State

Democracy in the New Europe, 2006

¿The Slovak Question at the End of the Twentieth Century: National Identity, Political Culture and Democratisation¿

Rising From the Muck

The role of nationalism in the democratisation process: Slovakia and Slovenia 1989-1998

This thesis constitutes an inquiry into the relationship between nationalism and democracy in a p... more This thesis constitutes an inquiry into the relationship between nationalism and democracy in a particular setting-the postcommunist newly independent democracies. The purpose is to seek an answer to two related questions about what is the role of nationalism in the democratisation process and under which conditions is nationalism more or less compatible with democracy. Nationalism's capacity to threaten minorities, fragment states and complicate interstate relations has been amply demonstrated and documented. This study takes a different approach to nationalism. Its starting point is the democratisation process as a factor contributing to the importance of nationalism in the political life. It revolves around a theoretical and empirical exploration o f the relationship between nationalism and democracy. The empirical side is underpinned by the investigation into politics of Slovakia and Slovenia as two newly independent postcommunist states that emerged as a result o f democratisation. The comparative aspect of the thesis leads to the conclusion that the role o f nationalism in the democratisation process cannot be generalised and constitutes a complex process in itself, conditioned by the political context of the society undergoing the transition. The following factors are explored: the stage of national development, the conditions and circumstances surrounding the achievement of independent statehood, the previous regime and the period prior to that, the formation of transitional elites and the stage in the transition, the ethnic composition and the historically predetermined ethnic harmony within the state. This thesis presents a number o f new arguments. Firstly, it proposes that nationalism in new postcommunist democracies contains civic and ethnic demands at the same time which consequently gives postcommunist nationalism a different character from classical nationalism. Secondly, the thesis seeks the correlation between the progress of the transition and nationalism in the priority given to either nation-building or state-building. Thirdly, it proposes that whilst nationalism might have a positive role at the beginning o f the democratisation process, its capacity to sustain that process is limited. which 'national' economy could be built. Interestingly, Gellner himself, certainly in Nations and Nationalism' never mentions democracy (as pointed out in a different context by J.J.Linz & A.Stepan Problems o f Dem ocratic Transition and Consolidation note 21 p.24). This suggests that his preoccupation was not with nationalism as a movement for liberation, but as a corollary of industrialisation, which o f course does not exclude the fact that democracy was born during the same historical process, but so were liberalism and socialism. For more in-depth exploration o f Gellner's theory o f nationalism and its connection to democracy see J.Hall The State o f the Nation Cambridge, Cambridge University Press 1998 (henceforth The State o f the Nation), particularly B.O'Leary's chapter 'Ernest Gellner's diagnosis o f nationalism s critical overview, or, what is living and what is dead in Ernest Gellner's philosophy o f nationalism?'. 6 M. Mandelbaum ed. Postcommunism Council on Foreign Relations Books 1996 p. 13 7 G.Nodia p.4 8 For example the SNS (Slovenskd Ndrodna Strana-Slovak National Party), the first party to advocate full Slovak independence was formed in 1990. V.Meciar who negotiated Slovak independence and became its first Prime Minister was never a member o f any separatist movement. 9 Point also stressed by J.J.Linz & A.Stepan Problems o f Democratic Transition and Consolidation p.237 note 7. For speculation what might have happened in Czechoslovakia, see H.Gordon Skilling Czechoslovakia's Interrupted Revolution Princeton, Princeton University Press 1976 and for more 'nationalist' explanation o f the 'Prague Spring', as set in motion by the Slovak efforts to decentralise the Communist Party (an account explored below) see G.

Nation-state and the European Union: Lost in a Battle for Identity

Politička Misao, 2011

Summary This article, based on studies of nationalism, discusses identity formation in the Europe... more

Nationalism and International Order: A Contemporary Perspective

order

Abstract: This essay offers a reflection on and a summary of the authoress's book on nationa... more

Management of the Hungarian Issue in Slovak Politics: Europeanisation and the Evolution of National Identities

Research for this paper is a part of a larger research project into Europeanisation of Slovakia, ... more

Nation-state and the European Union: Lost in a Battle for Identity

This article, based on studies of nationalism, discusses identity formation in the European Union... more This article, based on studies of nationalism, discusses identity formation in the European Union and compares it to the nation-state. The starting point is that for all its economic benefits and political innovation, the EU is failing to provide people with the sense of belonging and extract political loyalty. By ex-ploring what function identity serves – for the nation-state in the past and for the EU in the present – it is argued that while there are limits to the EU’s ability to project a meaningful European identity, there are also limits to the nation--state’s ability to meet the political challenges of contemporary societies. One way, and possibly the only way out of this ‘battle for identity ’ is to acknow-ledge the real impact of the EU on the nation-state and open an honest debate by both European and national elites about which challenges of our time can be met by the EU and which are better kept at the national level. A better under-standing of how people’s national aspi...

Nacionalna Država I Europska Unija: Izgubljeni U Borbi Za Identitet

Politicka Misao, Oct 4, 2011

This article, based on studies of nationalism, discusses identity formation in the European Union... more This article, based on studies of nationalism, discusses identity formation in the European Union and compares it to the nation-state. The starting point is that for all its economic benefits and political innovation, the EU is failing to provide people with the sense of belonging and extract political loyalty. By exploring what function identity serves -for the nation-state in the past and for the EU in the present -it is argued that while there are limits to the EU's ability to project a meaningful European identity, there are also limits to the nation--state's ability to meet the political challenges of contemporary societies. One way, and possibly the only way out of this 'battle for identity' is to acknowledge the real impact of the EU on the nation-state and open an honest debate by both European and national elites about which challenges of our time can be met by the EU and which are better kept at the national level. A better understanding of how people's national aspirations, concerns and political demands are mediated between different levels of governance may lead to adapting their identities accordingly -loyalty and passion for the EU may follow too.

Nationalism and Democratisation: Politics of Slovakia and Slovenia

Karen Henderson's Slovakia: the Escapefrom Invisibility (London, 2002). Erika Harris's ... more

Nationalism: Theories and Cases

Slovakia since 1989

9 Slovakia since 1989 ERIKA HARRIS Introduction: from nationhood to statehood The story of post-c... more

New Forms of Identity in Contemporary Europe

Perspectives on European Politics and Society, 2003

The article's main theme is national identity and its questionable role in establishing iden... more The article's main theme is national identity and its questionable role in establishing identity of a European political community. It is argued that political integration within the European Union requires a normative and conceptual re-examination of the concept of national identity. ' ...

Moving politics beyond the state?: The Hungarian minority in Slovakia

... The &#x27;triadic nexus&#x27; is in need of the supplementation by a fourth party - t... more ... The &#x27;triadic nexus&#x27; is in need of the supplementation by a fourth party - the EU ... of the above survey tell us about the latest stage of postcommunist transition - &#x27;transnationalism ... border region and where their affiliations lie I contend that &#x27;Europeanisation&#x27; means different things to ...

Democracy in the New Europe

Introduction: ‘Europeanisation’: conceptual and empirical considerations

Perspectives on European Politics and Society, 2003

... Galbreath treads a similar ground by exploring the nationalising policies of Estonia and Latv... more

New forms of identity in contemporary Europe

Perspectives on European Politics and Society, 2003

The article's main theme is national identity and its questionable role in establishing iden... more The article's main theme is national identity and its questionable role in establishing identity of a European political community. It is argued that political integration within the European Union requires a normative and conceptual re-examination of the concept of national identity. ' ...

Nacionalna Država I Europska Unija: Izgubljeni U Borbi Za Identitet

Politička misao : časopis za politologiju, Oct 4, 2011

This article, based on studies of nationalism, discusses identity formation in the European Union... more This article, based on studies of nationalism, discusses identity formation in the European Union and compares it to the nation-state. The starting point is that for all its economic benefits and political innovation, the EU is failing to provide people with the sense of belonging and extract political loyalty. By exploring what function identity serves-for the nation-state in the past and for the EU in the present-it is argued that while there are limits to the EU's ability to project a meaningful European identity, there are also limits to the nation-state's ability to meet the political challenges of contemporary societies. One way, and possibly the only way out of this 'battle for identity' is to acknowledge the real impact of the EU on the nation-state and open an honest debate by both European and national elites about which challenges of our time can be met by the EU and which are better kept at the national level. A better understanding of how people's national aspirations, concerns and political demands are mediated between different levels of governance may lead to adapting their identities accordingly-loyalty and passion for the EU may follow too.

Promoting Democracy in the New Europe

Democracy in the New Europe, 2006

Nationalism and democratisation

The implications from its findings are relevant for contemporary politics everywhere precisely be... more

Varieties of Democracy Within the State

Democracy in the New Europe, 2006

¿The Slovak Question at the End of the Twentieth Century: National Identity, Political Culture and Democratisation¿

Rising From the Muck

The role of nationalism in the democratisation process: Slovakia and Slovenia 1989-1998

This thesis constitutes an inquiry into the relationship between nationalism and democracy in a p... more This thesis constitutes an inquiry into the relationship between nationalism and democracy in a particular setting-the postcommunist newly independent democracies. The purpose is to seek an answer to two related questions about what is the role of nationalism in the democratisation process and under which conditions is nationalism more or less compatible with democracy. Nationalism's capacity to threaten minorities, fragment states and complicate interstate relations has been amply demonstrated and documented. This study takes a different approach to nationalism. Its starting point is the democratisation process as a factor contributing to the importance of nationalism in the political life. It revolves around a theoretical and empirical exploration o f the relationship between nationalism and democracy. The empirical side is underpinned by the investigation into politics of Slovakia and Slovenia as two newly independent postcommunist states that emerged as a result o f democratisation. The comparative aspect of the thesis leads to the conclusion that the role o f nationalism in the democratisation process cannot be generalised and constitutes a complex process in itself, conditioned by the political context of the society undergoing the transition. The following factors are explored: the stage of national development, the conditions and circumstances surrounding the achievement of independent statehood, the previous regime and the period prior to that, the formation of transitional elites and the stage in the transition, the ethnic composition and the historically predetermined ethnic harmony within the state. This thesis presents a number o f new arguments. Firstly, it proposes that nationalism in new postcommunist democracies contains civic and ethnic demands at the same time which consequently gives postcommunist nationalism a different character from classical nationalism. Secondly, the thesis seeks the correlation between the progress of the transition and nationalism in the priority given to either nation-building or state-building. Thirdly, it proposes that whilst nationalism might have a positive role at the beginning o f the democratisation process, its capacity to sustain that process is limited. which 'national' economy could be built. Interestingly, Gellner himself, certainly in Nations and Nationalism' never mentions democracy (as pointed out in a different context by J.J.Linz & A.Stepan Problems o f Dem ocratic Transition and Consolidation note 21 p.24). This suggests that his preoccupation was not with nationalism as a movement for liberation, but as a corollary of industrialisation, which o f course does not exclude the fact that democracy was born during the same historical process, but so were liberalism and socialism. For more in-depth exploration o f Gellner's theory o f nationalism and its connection to democracy see J.Hall The State o f the Nation Cambridge, Cambridge University Press 1998 (henceforth The State o f the Nation), particularly B.O'Leary's chapter 'Ernest Gellner's diagnosis o f nationalism s critical overview, or, what is living and what is dead in Ernest Gellner's philosophy o f nationalism?'. 6 M. Mandelbaum ed. Postcommunism Council on Foreign Relations Books 1996 p. 13 7 G.Nodia p.4 8 For example the SNS (Slovenskd Ndrodna Strana-Slovak National Party), the first party to advocate full Slovak independence was formed in 1990. V.Meciar who negotiated Slovak independence and became its first Prime Minister was never a member o f any separatist movement. 9 Point also stressed by J.J.Linz & A.Stepan Problems o f Democratic Transition and Consolidation p.237 note 7. For speculation what might have happened in Czechoslovakia, see H.Gordon Skilling Czechoslovakia's Interrupted Revolution Princeton, Princeton University Press 1976 and for more 'nationalist' explanation o f the 'Prague Spring', as set in motion by the Slovak efforts to decentralise the Communist Party (an account explored below) see G.

Nation-state and the European Union: Lost in a Battle for Identity

Politička Misao, 2011

Summary This article, based on studies of nationalism, discusses identity formation in the Europe... more

Nationalism and International Order: A Contemporary Perspective

order

Abstract: This essay offers a reflection on and a summary of the authoress's book on nationa... more

Management of the Hungarian Issue in Slovak Politics: Europeanisation and the Evolution of National Identities

Research for this paper is a part of a larger research project into Europeanisation of Slovakia, ... more

Nation-state and the European Union: Lost in a Battle for Identity

This article, based on studies of nationalism, discusses identity formation in the European Union... more This article, based on studies of nationalism, discusses identity formation in the European Union and compares it to the nation-state. The starting point is that for all its economic benefits and political innovation, the EU is failing to provide people with the sense of belonging and extract political loyalty. By ex-ploring what function identity serves – for the nation-state in the past and for the EU in the present – it is argued that while there are limits to the EU’s ability to project a meaningful European identity, there are also limits to the nation--state’s ability to meet the political challenges of contemporary societies. One way, and possibly the only way out of this ‘battle for identity ’ is to acknow-ledge the real impact of the EU on the nation-state and open an honest debate by both European and national elites about which challenges of our time can be met by the EU and which are better kept at the national level. A better under-standing of how people’s national aspi...

Nacionalna Država I Europska Unija: Izgubljeni U Borbi Za Identitet

Politicka Misao, Oct 4, 2011

This article, based on studies of nationalism, discusses identity formation in the European Union... more This article, based on studies of nationalism, discusses identity formation in the European Union and compares it to the nation-state. The starting point is that for all its economic benefits and political innovation, the EU is failing to provide people with the sense of belonging and extract political loyalty. By exploring what function identity serves -for the nation-state in the past and for the EU in the present -it is argued that while there are limits to the EU's ability to project a meaningful European identity, there are also limits to the nation--state's ability to meet the political challenges of contemporary societies. One way, and possibly the only way out of this 'battle for identity' is to acknowledge the real impact of the EU on the nation-state and open an honest debate by both European and national elites about which challenges of our time can be met by the EU and which are better kept at the national level. A better understanding of how people's national aspirations, concerns and political demands are mediated between different levels of governance may lead to adapting their identities accordingly -loyalty and passion for the EU may follow too.

Nationalism and Democratisation: Politics of Slovakia and Slovenia

Karen Henderson's Slovakia: the Escapefrom Invisibility (London, 2002). Erika Harris's ... more

Nationalism: Theories and Cases

Slovakia since 1989

9 Slovakia since 1989 ERIKA HARRIS Introduction: from nationhood to statehood The story of post-c... more

New Forms of Identity in Contemporary Europe

Perspectives on European Politics and Society, 2003

The article's main theme is national identity and its questionable role in establishing iden... more The article's main theme is national identity and its questionable role in establishing identity of a European political community. It is argued that political integration within the European Union requires a normative and conceptual re-examination of the concept of national identity. ' ...

Moving politics beyond the state?: The Hungarian minority in Slovakia

... The &#x27;triadic nexus&#x27; is in need of the supplementation by a fourth party - t... more ... The &#x27;triadic nexus&#x27; is in need of the supplementation by a fourth party - the EU ... of the above survey tell us about the latest stage of postcommunist transition - &#x27;transnationalism ... border region and where their affiliations lie I contend that &#x27;Europeanisation&#x27; means different things to ...

Democracy in the New Europe

Introduction: ‘Europeanisation’: conceptual and empirical considerations

Perspectives on European Politics and Society, 2003

... Galbreath treads a similar ground by exploring the nationalising policies of Estonia and Latv... more

New forms of identity in contemporary Europe

Perspectives on European Politics and Society, 2003

The article's main theme is national identity and its questionable role in establishing iden... more The article's main theme is national identity and its questionable role in establishing identity of a European political community. It is argued that political integration within the European Union requires a normative and conceptual re-examination of the concept of national identity. ' ...