According to Shin (sociology, Stanford U.) and other observers, Koreans display a strong national identity that is based on bloodline or ethnicity. He places his sociological account of the development of Korean ethnic nationalism within the context of theories of transitions to the modern. Opening chapters analyze competing transnational sources for collective identity: pan-Asianism, colonial racism, international socialism and communism, and capitalism and modernization. Following is a look at the contentious politics and processes of constructing the basis for the Korean nation, including discussion of modernist versus anti-modernist (agrarian) understandings during colonial rule, North Korean versus South Korean conceptions post-1945, and official versus popular South Korean formulations from the 1960s to the 1980s. The final chapters consider current debates over unification and the interplay between nationalism and globalization. Annotation ©2006 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)