Identifying with Nationality: Europeans, Ottomans, and Egyptians

Identifying with Nationality: Europeans, Ottomans, and Egyptians (Columbia University Press, 2017) draws on evidence from turn-of-the-century Egypt to argue that most ordinary people came to the nation-state in ways that had little to do with nationalism (ideas and sentiments of belonging to a nation-state) or citizenship (political and civil membership in the state of residence), explanations that dominate the historical literature. The book is a social history of certain subtle tools of nationality practice—documents, census, money, and marriage—and a legal history of the development of private international law as nationality won out over rival categories of affiliation, such as foreigner, protégé, Ottoman, and local.

Note: This is a discussion based workshop of work-in-progress with the expectation that those attending have read the workshop materials. Please contact Jacquelyn E. Burt at ruppx077@umn.edu for a copy of the materials.