On the Origins of Nationalism in the Societies of the Maghreb: Ernest Guellner and the High Culture Concept

Abstract

This study outlines Ernest Gellner’s (1925–1995) anthropological conceptualisation of the Nation and Nationalism. It focuses on the notion of high culture pertaining to the study of Islam, contending that the emergence of nationalism and the Salafi reformist movement are the outcome of the same process. The study demonstrates the limits of this notion in studying the “Muslim society” as an essentialist conception of Islam as well as a transposition of a ready–made model. In his analysis of nationalism in Maghrebi societies, Gellner’s holistic approach results in some fundamental contradictions and may not stand the test of the historical experiences of these countries, especially in the case of Morocco.