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.

Revisiting 9/11

openDemocracy found its purpose in the need to make sense of the world after the collapse of the twin towers. Revisit our reportage from the time.

By Anthony Barnett, Tom Nairn, Paul Gilroy and Todd Gitlin

/ 8 Sep 2026

Scotland and Europe, Iris Murdoch and Antonio Gramsci: an interview with Tom Nairn

From The left against Europe to The break up of Britain, Tom Nairn's essays have been far-sighted and era-defining for half a century. Here, we publish the first recorded interview on his intellectual history.

By Tom Nairn and Scott Hames

/ 23 Jul 2016

Old nation, new age

When it comes to countries in the modern world, is bigger really better?

By Tom Nairn

/ 22 Apr 2014

A nation's blueprint? Introduction to "The case for left wing nationalism"

A posthumous collection of the writings by one of Scotland’s most distinguished advocates of independence, Stephen Maxwell, has just been published: ‘The Case for Left-Wing Nationalism’. It has been edited by Jamie Maxwell and is published by Luath Press and has been introduced by Tom Nairn.

By Tom Nairn

/ 19 Nov 2013

Frontiers: a re-evaluation

For advocates of globalisation, the 'frontier' is often presented as an obstacle to universal freedom. But as the anti-democratic implications of this argument are increasingly evident, what if the solution to managing power is not fewer borders but more?

By Tom Nairn

/ 12 Mar 2013

Fate of the First Born? English nationalism and Euroscepticism

One of the most respected contemporary voices on nationalism gives his take on an important new book exploring the relationship between England and Europe.

By Tom Nairn

/ 21 Dec 2012

After Britain: Tom Nairn's view of Blair and Brown eleven years and five years ago

Tom Nairn is 80 today. His influential contributions to OurKingdom and openDemocracy are the icing on a cake of Scottish, European and global arguments that have shaped thinking in a

By Tom Nairn

/ 2 Jun 2012

Hooligans of the Absolute: Black Pluto's door after 11 September

The impulse of the attacks was not confidence but despair – the strike of a miserable old world against the unsettling but promising new.Tom Nairn is 80 today. To celebrate, we are republishing his reflections on 9/11, first published on 4 October 2001.

By Tom Nairn

/ 1 Jun 2012

New faces of nationalism

Around the globe, new forms of governance are being sought to counter-balance the hyper-empire of global capitalism. Scotland is developing its own resistance, could England follow suit?

By Tom Nairn

/ 26 Jan 2012

Will Britain ever shake the ghost of Empire?

Reflections on Jeremy Paxman's book, 'Empire: What ruling the world did to the British'.

By Tom Nairn

/ 14 Nov 2011

A Republican Monarchy? England and revolution

The author of the first major contemporary critique of the monarchy looks over his argument as Scotland moves towards independence under a shared crown and inaugurates a new debate 'For England's Sake!'

By Tom Nairn

/ 12 Oct 2011

The prophet redeemed?

Ernest Gellner was a polymath and a public intellectual, a philosopher and defender of modernity. A remarkable ‘intellectual biography’ by John A.Hall explores the Gellner Archives at the LSE alongside his published works to piece together the profile of something even more important than an accou

By Tom Nairn

/ 3 Jan 2011