Tom Nairn

Tom Nairn 1932 - 2023) was Research Professor in the Politics Department of Durham University and was a Professor of Nationalism and Social Diversity at Austrailia's RMIT 2002 - 2010. His books include, The Left against Europe?, The Breakup of Britain, Enchanted Glass and Faces of Nationalism.

Five down, two hundred-and-ninety-five to go

Quote of the Day: "Let us recognise that national and global media not only report on change, but are themselves agents of change." Kofi Annan, United Nations secretary-

By Tom Nairn

/ 11 May 2006

Ending the big -ism

"All men at God's round table sit, And all men must be fed; But this loaf in my hand, This loaf is my son's bread.

By Tom Nairn

/ 26 Jan 2006

On the beach: a bonfire of monarchies in Melbourne

Melbourne, November 2005 When I got to the party last week, instructions were being imparted (in Strine) to the Viking archers on Beaconsfield Parade beach. This is a surfer-free

By Tom Nairn

/ 15 Nov 2005

After the G8 and 7/7: an age of 'democratic warming'

Since the 7 July attacks, London and the world have rung with slogans of depleted Britishness: steadfast grit, business as usual, we can take it (especially Londoners). Understandable in the

By Tom Nairn

/ 10 Jul 2005

Britain's tipping-point election

In the aftermath of the British general election of 5 May 2005, something quite unexpected is happening. Everyone knows that Tony Blairs New Labour Party won. But its

By Tom Nairn

/ 26 Jun 2005

Don't vote for Bullshit

Inquiring at an Oxford bookshop about the latest tome from Harry G Frankfurt, Princetons emeritus professor of philosophy On Bullshit (Princeton University Press, 2005) I expected a delay, or

By Tom Nairn

/ 11 Apr 2005

The Free World's end?

Progress itself is not something that unfolds in a single line. Along with the natural weakening an idea suffers as it becomes diffuse, there is also the crisscrossing of

By Tom Nairn

/ 1 Dec 2004

Authoritarian Man: the Axis of Good

I suspect that W.B. Yeats Spiritus Mundi must by now be disturbing all serious students of globalisation who read poetry. In The Second Coming (1921) he intuited a desert

By Tom Nairn

/ 30 Jul 2003

5. Are there alternatives?

The series 1. America: Enemy of globalisation In the first part of a major new series Tom Nairn lays out his surprising and important thesis. Globalisation is not Americanisation. Rather,

By Tom Nairn

/ 20 Feb 2003

4. America: being old with a vengeance

The series 1. America: Enemy of globalisation In the first part of a major new series Tom Nairn lays out his surprising and important thesis. Globalisation is not Americanisation. Rather,

By Tom Nairn

/ 5 Feb 2003

3. Apocalypse is in the air

The series 1. America: Enemy of globalisation In the first part of a major new series Tom Nairn lays out his surprising and important thesis. Globalisation is not Americanisation. Rather,

By Tom Nairn

/ 22 Jan 2003

2. Globalisation today: a human experience

The series 1. America: Enemy of globalisation In the first part of a major new series Tom Nairn lays out his surprising and important thesis. Globalisation is not Americanisation. Rather,

By Tom Nairn

/ 16 Jan 2003