Abstract

The chapter explores the innovative potential of trans-actional analysis in the field of Nationalism Studies. We do it via two case studies in meta-methodological analysis. First, we discuss the canonical “Warwick debates” between the nationalism theorists Anthony Smith and Ernest Gellner. The two influential scholars disagree over the patterns of nation formation and use Estonians as a test case in their debate. We employ the categories “self-action” and “inter-action” to characterize the methodological premises of Smith’s and Gellner’s accounts of how the Estonian nation developed, and compare their approaches to an interpretation that would result from trans-actional analysis. Secondly we consider Rogers Brubaker’s influential “anti-groupist” approach to ethnicity as an example of trans-actionalism. We ask whether his reduction of focus is something intrinsically required by trans-actionalism with its close-up perspective or whether trans-actional analysis could also help to gain insight into large scale political movements and processes of nation-building.