The Warwick debate provides approaches to the study of nationalism. It laid the foundation for the development of two approaches to the study of nationalism. The first approach is Smith’s primordial approach and the other is Gillnets modernist approach.
Smith’s argument begins with the definition of nationalism and the difference between a state and a nation. A nation stems from a pre-existing history. It does not require that all the members be alike but they must have a bond of solidarity to the other members of the nation. Nationalism is a movement for the attainment and maintenance of unity, identity and autonomy of a population that its members consider a nation. Nations are a product of modernity but it is likely to find ethnic elements that exist in these nations. He notes that nations are a continuation of culture, territory and the heritage of communities that existed before the modern nations. This concept is the basis of the ethno-symbolic approach. Gellner’s theory of nationalism starts from the transformation of the society from an agrarian system to one that is based on industrialisation. Before industrialisation, society was based on boundaries between communities and between the different classes of the population. Mass education and social mobility achieved after industrialisation broke the barriers between communities and class. The convergence of people from different backgrounds made it necessary to establish a common identity for them. Demands from