Intellectual Elites and the Vicissitudes of “Imagined Nation” in Poland
Author(s)
Walicki, Andrzej
Abstract
A new theory of nations and nationalism has emerged which argues that nations are artifacts and are the results of nationalism. Although this view of nations is biased, this constructionist theory is right in claiming that intellectual elites contributed to the shaping of national identities. A study of Poland’s history shows that it contradicts the constructionist view. Instead it reveals a marked difference between nationalism as an elitist ideology and nationalism as a process that built the Polish nation.
