Nationalism, globalisation and the East: free public lecture

In the free public lecture on Wednesday, 16 March, Professor Greenfeld will discuss the nature of nationalism and globalisation, focusing on the significance of the spread of nationalism into East and South Asia, particularly China.

Her central argument in the lecture – Globalisation of nationalism into China and the beginning of a new era in history? – is that nationalism has provided the motive force for Asian civilisations to enter into the competition with the West, making their rise to world-dominance inevitable.

“We are standing on the verge of the historical change of the guard: within very few years we’ll be living in the world, ruled – culturally, politically, militarily, and morally – by Asian powers,” Professor Greenfeld said.

Professor Greenfeld is Professor of Political Science and Sociology in the College of Arts and Sciences, and Director of the Institute for the Advancement of the Social Sciences at Boston University.

Her books include Nationalism: Five Roads to Modernity (1992) and The Spirit of Capitalism: Nationalism and Economic Growth (2001).

Presented by the RMIT Globalism Research Centre, the annual Tom Nairn Lecture is named in honour of RMIT’s former Innovation Professor of Nationalism and Cultural Diversity, Professor Tom Nairn.

The 2011 Tom Nairn Lecture is at RMIT’s Kaleide Theatre, 360 Swanston Street, at 6pm on Wednesday, 16 March.

For more information, contact Todd Bennet.

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