Michael Hechter is an American sociologist and Foundation Professor of Political Science at Arizona State University. He is also Emeritus Professor of Sociology at the University of Washington. Hechter first became known for his research in comparative-historical analysis. His book Internal Colonialism: The Celtic Fringe in British National Development, 1536-1966 (1975; 1998) presented a social structural analysis of nationalism – in contrast to then-popular cultural explanations of the phenomenon—and was one of the first such studies to employ multivariate statistical analysis. It was deemed one of the best books of the 20th century by the International Sociological Association.