Beyond Nations: Evolving Homelands in the North Atlantic World, 1400–2000

by John R. Chávez

Beyond Nations traces the evolution of “peripheral” ethnic homelands around the North Atlantic, from before transoceanic contact to their current standing in the world political system. For example, “Megumaage,” homeland of the Micmac is transformed into the French colony of Acadia, then into the British colony of Nova Scotia, and subsequently into the present Canadian province. Centrally, Professor Chávez tracks the role of colonialism in the transformation of such lands, but especially the part played by federalism in moving beyond the ethnic and racial conflicts resulting from imperialism. Significantly, Chávez gives attention to the effects of these processes on the individual mind, arguing that historically federalism has permitted the individual to sustain and balance varying ethnic loyalties regionally, nationally, and globally. Beyond Nations concludes with a discussion of an evolving global imagination that takes into account migrations, borderlands, and transnational communities in an increasingly postcolonial and postnational world.

308 pages, Hardcover

First published June 22, 2009

Reviews

[Joshua Loong · Rating 3 out of 5]

An idiosyncratic (i.e. non-complete) history of the Atlantic world, Beyond Nations explores the evolving ethnic and political relationships of people groups in these regions. Documenting periods of colonization, revolution, domination and integration, Chávez explores the histories of the Aztecs and Mexico, Tejanos and Texas, Anglo Texas and the US, the Mi’kmaq and Nova Scotia, Quebec and Canada, the Inuit and Canada, the Irish and the British Empire, Brittany and France, the Temne and Sierra Leone, Basque and Spain, Morocco and France, and the various Caribbean polities and their European colonizers. These are some of the many histories that outline the evolving the dynamics between colonizers and the colonized, marginal ethnic groups and the dominant powers, states and larger confederations. Some peacefully, others much more violently. As the world transitioned from colonial empires to nation states to members in international confederations, Chávez demonstrates the multiplicitous influences all of the Altantic basin has had on each other throughout the centuries. The interconnections drawn become astounding.

An example is tracing the fact that the Mi’kmaq were colonized by British settlers which eventually would become the colony of Nova Scotia. In parallel, Africans were imported as slaves from West Africa into the United States. Later on, Black Loyalists fled America during the Revolutionary War into the remaining British Colonies, one of which was Nova Scotia. Eventually, the British Empire, trying to establish a greater colonial hold in Africa, created a new colony Freetown, in what is now Sierra Leone, by settling it with around a thousand Black Loyalists living in Nova Scotia at the time. These people established their own colonial rule that engendered their own racial conflict between indigenous African groups and colonial Africans that continues to this day. This interconnection and interplay of historical and political forces throughout time is fascinating.

These are the types of historical insights that were wonderful about this book. However, while the content was strong, I had some reservations. Chávez in his introduction claims one of the most interesting threads to investigate is the evolving political and cultural identities of immigrants. How they live in multiple worlds, with multiple allegiances, that don’t fit neatly underneath one spatial category. Especially in light of our modern ability to travel and communicate across borders so easily. I think part of this is outlined in some of the histories, but I feel like more time could have been spent fully exploring this idea. My other gripes were minor. For example, it felt like there were some stretches of the book that didn’t explicitly refer back to particular sources which would have been great for follow up. In addition, it seemed to me that some of the writing here was a bit clunky. Some sentences had strange clauses that could have warranted some editing.

Overall though this was solid. Plus there were some really great maps that will come in handy for my research project.

[Malcolm · Rating 5 out of 5]

In the messy world of the post- (modern, colonial and so on) we have begun to talk about post-national analyses – that is, those that get beyond the notion of the nation-state as a taken-for-granted, primordial, natural entity. Much of this work considers leaky boundaries of nations/states, regions within states, and borderland areas, but more importantly much of this work is decidedly cultural and culturalist in tone.

Not so Chavez: in a marvellous book that weaves together history, sociology and politics he has presented us with a comparative history of homelands (only some of which are or became nation-states) spanning the North Atlantic and covering a 600 year period. In a refreshing volume, he treats pre-Columbian diverse Native American ideas of homelands and communities as equally worthy of consideration as diverse European and diverse north African notions, and in doing so treats the European colonial/imperial expansion into these areas as times of the meeting of mutually well-developed and coherent political systems. He explores internal colonialism (e.g., Ireland, Texas) as well as expansion across oceans and continents, but also shows how even in the same imperial setting there was enormous difference. In short, although the colonial era was one of conquest, there was no simple model of conquest and no simple model of native an newcomer relations. I found his treatment of the Texas border areas that segue into the Chicano activist notion of Aztlan really useful, and the complex relations between federal Canada, Quebec, and indigenous Nunavik provoke some complex questions for me.

In dealing with more recent eras, he shows how nation-states have been constructed, changed, managed and adapted over time; how the contemporary period is as much one of confederation of nations as it is one of national distinctiveness; how those confederations (weak alliances) and federations (stong alliances) have been differently affected by centrifugal and centripetal forces so some remain strong but some fall apart.

All in all, he has exposed, through some subtle and elegant case studies (about which specialists are bound to disagree and contest – it is our job as specialists), the artificiality of the nation and the nation-state to make the case that we have always had varied and multiple identities and associations. What is more, that these are not discretely constrained one within the other but overlapping, contested, contesting – and that without recognising this artificiality and without disenchanting the nation (my phrase, not his) we risk remaining stuck in a limiting and limited existence.

This is a major contribution to studies of nations, nationalism, and global history and rates alongside Bouchard's Making of the Nations and Cultures of the New World as one of the most important books I have read this year, and one that will I am sure have a significant impact on my academic work to come. And what's more, I bought it on spec: now there's luck.