Walker Connor | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1926-06-19)June 19, 1926 South Hadley, Massachusetts, United States |
| Died | February 28, 2017(2017-02-28) (aged 90) |
| Education | B.A.,University of Massachusetts AmherstM.A.,Ph.D.,Georgetown University |
| Occupation | Political Scientist |
| Employer | Middlebury College |
| Title | Distinguished Visiting Professor |
Walker F. Connor (June 19, 1926 – February 28, 2017) wasDistinguished Visiting Professor ofPolitical Science atMiddlebury College (Middlebury, Vermont, USA). Connor is best known for his work onnationalism, and is considered one of the founders of theinterdisciplinaryfield ofnationalism studies.[1]
Before the collapse of Europeancommunism that began in the late 1980s, nationalism was not a subject of significant academic study and was generally neglected,[citation needed] with the exception of some major contributions by authors such asErnest Gellner,Benedict Anderson, andAnthony D. Smith.[2][3][4] Connor’s work is another exception to this rule, and today he is regarded as “one of the scholars of nationalism and ethnic conflict who has contributed most towards establishing a conceptual grounding” for the study of nationalism.[5]
Widely cited for his insistence on the inherentlyethnic character of nationalism, which he callsethnonationalism to emphasize the point, Connor has long held that the most significant obstacle to advancing the study of nationalism isterminological imprecision. Particularly problematic, he contends, is the tendency toconflate the distinct concepts ofstate andnation, as well as the respective concepts ofpatriotism and nationalism which derive from them.[6]
Another significant theme in Connor's work is the passionate, nonrational character of nationalism. When trying to understand national sentiment, he argues, the key is not chronological or factual history, but sentient orfelt history. National identity is based on the emotional psychology of perceived kinship ties – a sense of the nation as the fully extended family – and accordingly belongs to the realm of thesubconscious and nonrational.[7]
Finally, Connor is also well known for his analysis ofMarxist-Leninist treatments of nationalism, which he deals with at length in his bookThe National Question in Marxist-Leninist Theory and Strategy.[8]
Connor held resident appointments at, among others,Harvard,Dartmouth,Trinity (Hartford),Pomona,Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, theLondon School of Economics, theWoodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars,Oxford,Cambridge,Bellagio,Warsaw,Singapore, and the Fulbright Visiting Research Chair in Ethnicity and Multicultural Citizenship atQueen's University at Kingston.
TheUniversity of Nevada named him Distinguished American Humanist of 1991-92, and theUniversity of Vermont named him Distinguished American Political Scientist of 1997.[9]
