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This is the fifth in a series devoted to Central and East Europe which began in 1988, before the seismic changes occurred in that region. The first issue was devoted to the state of social science and social theory, and subsequent issues have examined some of the questions emerging from the period of transition. Although from time to time we consider discontinuing the series because it may appear to exaggerate the differences between cast and west by continuing it, there always seem to be reasons for doing at least one more issue. Since many of the problems now faced by the countries in the region confront countries in many different parts of the globe, the recent issues attempted to reflect this fact, and we felt this would reduce the risk that these issues will exaggerate the differences. The current issue reexamines nationalism, repeating the theme of an earlier issue, because the problems of nationalism have not gone away and, in fact, have increased in importance.
The questions the authors were asked to consider for this issue were: How can the multiple outbreaks of ethnic and nationalist strife be understood in terms of the available theories of nationalism? If none of these theories are adequate, can they be reasonably adapted? Are these conflicts different from those in other parts of the globe and from historically earlier instances? What are the conditions which make nationalist struggles more or less likely? What is the likely future of these conflicts, and what are the prospects for their peaceful, democratic resolution?
We are grateful to CEEPP (the Central and East European Publishing Project, now known as the Fund for Central and East European Book Projects) for their support which began with the first issue in this series and has continued uninterrupted. Arien Mack
Mark R. Beissinger is professor of political science and Director of the Center for Russia, East Europe, and Central Asia at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. He recently published "The Persisting Ambiguity of Empire" (1995) and is a contributing co-editor of The Nationalities Factor in Soviet Politics and Society (1990).
György Csepeli is professor of social psychology at the Institute of Sociology, ELTE University, Budapest. He recently contributed "The Role of Fear in Ethnic and National Conflicts in Eastern Europe" to Grappling with Democracy: Deliberations on Post-Communist Societies (1996).
Liah Greenfeld is University Professor and professor of sociology at Boston University. She has written "The Worth of Nations: Some Economic Implications of Nationalism" (1996) and Nationalism: Five Roads to Modernity (1993).
János Kis is professor of political science at The Central European University in Budapest. He recently wrote "Timeliness of an Old Question" (1996) and is working on The Neutrality of the State (forthcoming).
Antal Örkény is associate professor at the Institute of Sociology, Eötvös Lorand University, Budapest. He is the author of "Accounting for Rich and Poor: Existential justice in Comparative Perspective" in Social Justice and Political Change (1995).
Jacques Rupnik is Director of Studies at the Centre d'Etudes et de Recherches Internationales, Fondation Nationale des Sciences Politiques. He recently published Le déchirement des nations (Paris, 1995).
G. M. Tamás is Research Professor at The Institute of Philosophy of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest. He contributed "A Disquisition on Civil Society" to Social Research in 1994 and is currently working on a treatise on authority.
Katherine Verdery is professor of anthropology at Johns Hopkins University. She is the author of What Was Socialism, and What Comes Next? (1996).
