Synopses & Reviews
Personal Identity, National Identity and International Relations is the first psychological study of nation-building, nationalism, mass mobilisation and foreign policy processes. In a bold exposition of identification theory, William Bloom relates mass psychological processes to international relations. He draws on Freud, Mead, Erikson, Parsons and Habermas to provide a rigorously argued answer to the longstanding theoretical problem of how to aggregate from individual attitudes to mass behaviour. With a detailed analysis of the nation-building experience of preindustrial France and England, William Bloom applies the theory to international relations.
Review
'... a very stimulating book.' International Affairs
Table of Contents
1. The problem stated and a review of politically applied psychological theory; 2. Identification theory - its structure, dynamics and application; 3. Nation-building; 4. The national identity dynamic and foreign policy; 5. Identification and international relations theory; 6. Conclusion - appraisal, prescriptions, paradoxes.