Post-reunification developments in German society, including the intensification of racism and nationalism, and the question of German identity, have led to a wide-ranging international debate. My thesis discusses some of the controversial issues and arguments raised, in an effort to understand the specific forms of contemporary German racism. The legal status and the political economy of asylum seekers are analysed, as are the debates leading to the mid-1993 change in Germany's Basic Law. Until then, a unique right which guaranteed asylum had existed. Its insertion into (West) Germany's provisional constitution in 1949 had been more ideologically than altruistically motivated. The change in legislation, primarily aimed at appeasing the racists, had the immediate effect of curbing numbers. Focusing on East-West migration, Germany's constitutional policy of accepting ethnic Germans from Eastern Europe is scrutinised. Previously a tool in the Cold War armoury, this open-armed approach was curtailed by an embryonic immigration law. In the aftermath of the collapse of 'communism' and German reunification, the integration of foreigners and of east- and ethnic Germans raised new questions about their respective rights. An examination of the changing terms of debate about citizenship and identity in German society reveals the different consequences for both citizens and non-citizens. Through briefly comparing German with French citizenship, the peculiarity of the former, and the framework for assessing the current 'dual nationality versus naturalisation' controversy, is established. Political and theoretical interest in German identity has resurfaced. In determining the key components of post-war identity, I found that anti-communism had stood out in serving as a negative reference point; now it is increasingly being replaced by racism. The mixture of biological and political factors in the new make-up of German collective identity appears to leave no room for foreigners. The critique of the contemporary German Left's approach to racism and identity is backed up by events in the city state of Bremen, particularly around the 1991 local elections, which - alongside fascist successes - revealed the Left's difficulty in sustaining a consistent anti-racism. The conclusion indicates that the issues of asylum, immigration and ethnic Germans had required serious answers before 1989. Reunification catapulted them to centre stage. The lack of a coherent theory and strategy is reflected in the ad-hoc, contradictory nature of policies dealing with the various categories of migrants. The 'solutions' proposed within the context of the German nation state are finally contrasted with those currently discussed at the European level.

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This study argues that nationalism is concerned not only with relations and differences between rival nations, but is also related to questions of class, power, and representation within nations. It explores the development of a conservative form of nationalism in England which, following Edmund Burke's Reflections on the Late Revolution in France (1790), elaborates a defence of the hegemony of the aristocracy, in response to the increasing economic and cultural power of the middle class, born of the rapid growth of commercial and industrial economy. Literature is central in the development of this nationalism, and writings by Coleridge, Wordsworth, Scott, Disraeli, and more briefly, Dickens are considered. There are two distinct images of nationhood in England in the period. These are on the one hand a vision of nationhood which links the nation to the existence of a public, a residual aristocratic ideal of the nation which is defined within the terms of the discourse of civic humanism, and on the other hand a vision of England which identifies English nationhood with rural society, village community, and the private and domestic space of the home; an ideal of the nation which emerges in relation to commercial and industrial culture, and which becomes identified with the middle class. These two ideals of nationhood become the focus of a struggle of representations between aristocracy and middle class. The tensions which this struggle between these conflicting images of the English nation creates are explored, considering their implications for the politics and representation of national, class, and gender identities. This study demonstrates that debates about the movement from a landbased pre-industrial to an industrial society are framed within a broader debate about the nature and meanings of Englishness and English nationhood. The relationship of this nationalism to developing discourses of imperialism is also explored.

This dissertation examines identity formation among evangelical Protestants in contemporary Ukraine. The overarching question is this: how do Ukrainian evangelicals view themselves and their churches in the context of Ukrainian regionalism, Ukrainian nationalism, and religious transnationalism? This question demands a closer look at Ukrainian regional variation, the status of Ukrainian national identity among evangelical practitioners, and the process of religious transnationalism, including how evangelicals perceive the West. This project is primarily based on qualitative research methods carried out over a ten month period. Field methods included participant observation, focus group interviews, and individual interviews. A set of maps produced by research subjects is also evaluated. In order to permit a regional comparison, case study churches were selected in four Ukrainian cities. Before beginning the field research it was hypothesized that Baptists, those evangelicals whose religious roots date to the nineteenth century and who survived the Soviet Union, would have different perspectives on many of the research questions than members of churches founded recently by American missionaries. To test this assumption, one Baptist church and one new evangelical church were selected in each of the four cities. Among Ukrainian evangelicals, regionalism is closely related to language preference and to notions of national identity. Members of churches in Lviv are strong supporters of Ukrainian-only language practices; members of churches in other parts of the country identify themselves as Russian speakers who dislike the exclusive language policies in western Ukraine. Study participants generally rejected a Ukrainian nationalism that was connected to religion, although members of new Protestant churches incorporated aspects of civic nationalism into their religious practice. In terms of their participation in a transnational religious network, all churches (both older Baptist and newer evangelical) were highly integrated with people, ideas, and money from the West. However, evangelicals views towards the West and their own identities as transnational actors were correlated to church type. Members of older Baptist churches were much more critical of Western churches and missionaries than were members of new evangelical congregations.

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