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'''Thomas Cunningham Nairn''' (2 June 1932
==Early life==
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==Work==
Nairn was considered one of the key thinkers of the British [[New Left]], although he expressed dissent with what he saw as its generally nationalist nostalgia. From 1962, with [[Perry Anderson]] in ''[[New Left Review]]'', he developed a thesis (the "[[Nairn-Anderson thesis]]") to explain why Britain did not develop in a 'normal' way,<ref>{{Cite journal | last = Nairn | first = Tom | title = The crisis of the British state | journal = [[New Left Review]] | volume = I | issue = 130 | date = November–December 1981 | url = http://newleftreview.org/I/130/tom-nairn-the-crisis-of-the-british-state }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal | last = Thompson | first = Willie | title = Tom Nairn and the crisis of the British state | journal = Contemporary Record | volume = 6 | issue = 2 | pages = 306–325 | doi = 10.1080/13619469208581213 | date = September 1992 }}</ref> which was defined as the [[continental Europe]]an movement to [[anti-clericalism]] and [[Republicanism]] since the 1789 [[French Revolution]].
By contrast, Nairn was long an advocate of [[European integration]], an argument he first put forward in ''The Left Against Europe'' (1973),<ref>{{cite book | last = Nairn | first = Tom | title = The left against Europe | publisher = Penguin Books | location = Harmondsworth, UK | year = 1973 | isbn = 9780140217650 }}</ref> when [[leftist]] opinion in the UK was very much against the idea.
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An anthology of ''NLR'' articles, ''The Break-Up of Britain'' (1977, revised 1982) is the best known of Nairn's books on the nationalism theme. It is a [[Marxist|Marxist critique]] of the emergence of [[types of nationalism|worldwide nationalism]]. Essentially, Nairn contends that [[imperialism]] from the core countries (Western Europe) amongst the peripheral nations (Africa, Asia, Australia, etc.) motivated the peripheral elites to mobilise their exploited masses. As such, they created powerful myths and stories based on local artefacts and local happenings. The peripheral intelligentsia, as he denoted them, were inspired by both [[romanticism]] and [[populism]]. In a chapter devoted to him, [[Enoch Powell]] is placed in both traditions. Nairn's ideas on nationalism were in the news during Britain's protracted [[Brexit]] negotiations from 2016, and Scotland's desire to remain in the European Union; his major works have been reprinted.<ref name=prophet/>
His [[Republicanism in the United Kingdom|republican]] inclinations meant that his ''[[The Enchanted Glass]]'' (1988) was one of the earliest serious modern investigations into the [[British monarchy]] from an abolitionist perspective. It won the [[Saltire Society]] [[Saltire Society Literary Awards|Scottish Book of the Year Award]]. Here and elsewhere Nairn used the term 'Ukania' to suggest the [[irrational]] and [[Ruritania]]n nature of the British [[constitutional monarchy]]. His original source for the term is the nickname "Kakania" that [[Robert Musil]] uses for the dual [[Austria-Hungary|Austro-Hungarian]] monarchy in ''[[The Man Without Qualities]]''. An updated edition of ''The Enchanted Glass'' (published by [[Verso Books|Verso]]) appeared in 2011.
==Personal life and death==▼
Tom Nairn lived in Scotland with his long-term partner Millicent Petrie, and had two stepchildren. He died on 21 January 2023, at the age of 90
==Honours==
In 2009, Nairn was elected a fellow of the [[Academy of Social Sciences in Australia]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://socialsciences.org.au/academy-fellow/?sId=0032v000033l9ZBAAY|title=Academy Fellow: Professor Tom Nairn |publisher=[[Academy of Social Sciences in Australia]] |access-date=27 February 2023}}</ref>
▲==Personal life and death==
▲Tom Nairn lived in Scotland with his long-term partner Millicent Petrie, and had two stepchildren. He died on 21 January 2023, at the age of 90, following complications arising from a fall.<ref name=death>{{cite web|url=https://www.thenational.scot/news/23267511.tom-nairn-godfather-modern-scottish-independence-movement-dead/|date=21 January 2023|website=[[The National (Scotland)|The National]]|title=Tom Nairn, 'godfather of modern Scottish independence movement' dead|first=Hamish|last=Morrison|access-date=27 February 2023}}</ref>
==Major works==
'''Books'''
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[[Category:People from Fife]]
[[Category:Political philosophers]]
[[Category:Academic staff of RMIT University
[[Category:Scholars of nationalism]]
[[Category:Scottish essayists]]
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