Special Section: George L. Mosse, Nationalism, and the Crisis of Liberal Democracies

Mosse proposed several answers to the challenging questions of the nineteenth and twentieth century, many of which are now famous paradigms that continue to influence transnational historiographic debates. In this Special Issue the following papers revisit some of Mosse’s central questions and present new answers. The authors offer novel perspectives about his work and apply his methods to new historical territory. In fact, this collective encounter with Mosse’s historiography and intellectual experience is driven by inquiries that were central to Mosse’s own works, but still resonate with our own present concerns. These include: What is the relationship between individuals, masses, and modern politics? What myths, rituals, and collective desires continue to animatemodern western democracies? And how does violence become part of the political imagination? In grappling with these questions, this Special Issue is a testimony to the versatility of Mosse’s work and his continued influence on the history of mass politics, aesthetics, and nationalism.