Does a nation define a culture or members of a single political unit? A video summary of Ernst Gellner's Nations and Nationalism, part of a larger playlist about the world's greatest ideas, shares Gellner's definitions of nations and nationalism. The video highlights key points from the text and uses simple images to illustrate those points.

Concepts

nationalism, cultural awareness, philosophers, industrialization

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Additional Tags

english language arts

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Instructional Ideas

• Talk about what nationalism would look like in a country such as the United States and its pros and cons
• Compare a modern nation-state to a state comprised of multiple nations

Classroom Considerations

• Requires a basic understanding of industrialization

• This video is hosted on YouTube

Pros

• Features clear, well-paced narration that makes it easy for listeners to follow
• Uses an analogy to help make Gellner's theory more accessible to modern viewers

Cons

• Contains ads and pop-up text boxes that distract from content of video

Common Core

RH.9-10.2 RH.9-10.10 RH.11-12.2 RH.11-12.10