Gellner

Ernest Gellner was a philosopher and social anthropologist who studied how societies develop and change. He believed that nationalism—people feeling a strong loyalty to their nation—became prominent with modern industrial societies, where shared language, culture, and education foster a collective identity. Gellner argued that as nations modernized, they standardized culture and education to create cohesive societies. He saw nationalism as a product of modernization efforts, not just a natural or ancient phenomenon, emphasizing its role in shaping political and social structures in the modern world.