Forthcoming [The European Legacy]: Austria Neglecta: Rethinking the Theory of Nationalism between Acton, Mazzini, and the Habsburg Legacy

Forthcoming in The European Legacy in 2026 (accepted draft): The consensus of nationalism scholarship, among political scientists, scholars of IR, and even philosophers, is that nationalism is not necessarily illiberal. Yet most of them have dismissed the last three decades of Habsburg and Central European history, which has refuted the national narratives on which the classic theories of nationalism and much political science are based. Following Benedict Anderson and Ernest Gellner's first definition of nationalism, prominent political scientists consider self-determination and national movements in general to be nationalist and conflate patriotism and nationality with nationalism, hence nationalism's possible benign and "liberal" nature. Yet these views are based on ahistorical assumptions, including the belief that the creation of mono-national states à la Mazzini was progressive. Through the Habsburg lens, this interdisciplinary article focusses on the distinctions between nationalism, on the one hand, and diverse forms of national allegiance, dynastic patriotism, supranationalism, and Landespatriotismus, on the other, showing how Habsburg considerations on nationalism would correct several of the assumptions of nationalism scholarship.