Andreas Wimmer

Andreas Wimmer is a Swiss sociologist who is the Lieber Professor of Sociology and Political Philosophy at Columbia University. He has a PhD in social anthropology from the University of Zurich. He is known for his research on nationalism, nation building, and ethnic conflict.
"Nation Building: Why Some Countries Come Together While Others Fall Apart".
Wimmer was awarded the 2019 Stein Rokkan Prize for Comparative Social Science Research in recognition of his book "Nation Building: Why Some Countries Come Together While Others Fall Apart". In the book, he argues that three factors tend to determine whether nation-building succeeds in the long term: "the early development of civil-society organisations, the rise of a state capable of providing public goods evenly across a territory, and the emergence of a shared medium of communication." Harris Mylonas described the book as "instant classic comparable to Karl Deutsch's "Nationalism and Social Communication" (1953) or Ernest Gellner's "Nations and Nationalism" (1983)." 
Wimmer does not see ethnic or racial diversity as detrimental to nation-building, arguing instead that linguistic diversity is a key stumbling block to nation-building. He argues that a shared language makes it easier for political alliances and networks to emerge within a prospective nation that ultimately contribute to shared national identification.