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Nationalism and the Making of National Pasts

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Nations and their Histories

Abstract

In his discussion of different concepts of time, Charles Taylor considers the way in which Augustine introduced a ‘secular’ notion of time, relevant to the earthly city, though overlaid by a higher conception of time to be found in the heavenly city. Taylor (2007, p. 56) writes of:

… the gathering together of past into present to project a future. The past, which ‘objectively’ exists no more, is here in my present; it shapes this moment in which I turn to a future, which ‘objectively’ is not yet, but which is here qua project.1

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Authors
  1. John Breuilly
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Government, London School of Economics and Political Science, UK

    Susana Carvalho

  2. Centre for Ethnic and Migration Studies, University of Liège, Belgium

    François Gemenne

  3. Institute for Sustainable Development and International Relations, Sciences Po, Paris, France

    François Gemenne

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© 2009 John Breuilly

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Breuilly, J. (2009). Nationalism and the Making of National Pasts. In: Carvalho, S., Gemenne, F. (eds) Nations and their Histories. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230245273_2

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