Nebulous nationalism: Walker Connor in an era of rising populism

Walker Connor's extensive writings on nationalism covered a wide range of issues and an even wider range of societies, from North America to Western Europe, from the countries of the Communist bloc to the evolving forms of identity and affiliation throughout the postcolonial, developing world. No theme in his work is perhaps more salient than his critical distinction between state and nation, one that was so often blurred by a loose terminology that saw political units and forms of ethnic identity as synonymous. For Connor, this sin was perpetrated by both academic scholars and general writers and led to a lack of appreciation of one of the foremost forces – what he called ethno‐nationalism – shaping the contemporary world.