Relevance or Irrelevance of Nationalism? A Perspective from the Eastern Mediterranean

In retracing in broad outline the historical trajectories of nationalism in three successive East Mediterranean contexts, each including the previous one, this essay seeks to marshal evidence in support of arguments on the continuing relevance of nationalism as a force shaping and therefore as a factor in understanding the contemporary world. It is also suggested, on the basis of the evidence discussed, that as a moral doctrine, nationalism remains dubious and can be a destructive ideology.     

European political thought in the making of Greek liberalism: The second national assembly of 1862–1864 and the reception of John Stuart Mill's ideas in Greece

SUMMARY

In this article, Maria Teresa Guerra Medici introduces evidence to support the view that in Europe some of the earliest examples of the concept of the democratic election of a leader of a community can be found in the rules for choosing the heads of monastic institutions. The article examines the rules that evolved for the election of abbesses by their convent and gives examples of how these rules were applied in practice to ensure that the choices made would be acceptable to the ecclesiastical and lay authorities.