This thesis begins with the argument that nations should not be treated as real, substantial, and enduring collectivities rooted in an antiquated-ethnic past. Instead it argues that nations and nationalism are distinctly modern and should be viewed through a categorical lens; that they are best understood as a process that requires an examination of how nationhood is institutionalized, how it works as a practical category, and can be the product of a perennial happening; and that nationness is fluctuating and works as an ambiguous and yet resonating symbol that attracts a degree of emotional loyalty to those who believe they constitute it. From this understanding of nationalism, it then argues that the Republic of Kosovo, in seeking to build or maintain its legitimacy, asserts itself as the authoritative spokesman of the nation by appropriating national heroes, working to institutionalize a distinct understanding of nationhood, and courting members of the Kosovar diaspora. In doing so, I seek two problematize two widely held notions: the notion that (new) 'nations' are a thing of the past and the belief that statehood is the capstone of the nationalist project. Rather, I show that the modern era has not precluded the formation of new nations and that 'culmination' of the nationalist project, statehood, is but the conclusion of a chapter that introduces the state as the primary actor in the promotion of nationalism.
