Democracy & (trans)Nationalism

1. Democracy & (trans)Nationalism Asbed Kotchikian Florida State University asbed@hotmail.com

2. Why Bother? • Nationalism defines everything • Is it globalization, cosmopolitism or trans-nationalism? • Is democracy sexy? • Can all 3 coexist?

3. Nationalism • Nations before nationalism (Anthony Smith) • French Revolution (1789) • Age of revolutions (mid-19th century) • Nationalism as an ideology in the 20th century

4. Cosmopolitism • Age of discovery and travel • Buying (taking) from one place and selling it in another • Baha’ism • Marco Polo • Leonardo da Vinci • Noam Chomsky • Globalization before “globalization”?

5. Cosmos or the Globe • Cosmopolitism: Increased socio/economic interaction at class level OR • Globalization: Increased socio/economic interaction at identity level

6. Democracy • Greek city-states • The business of governing people • At odds with business • Is there one path of democracy?

7. Global VS. Local • Cosmopolitism is • extra-nationalist since it goes beyond the nation • anti-nationalism since nationalism limits it • Dependent on nations • “Jihad Vs. MacWorld” or Jihad FOR MacWorld • Uneven development leads to nationalism

8. Global VS. Local • Anti-globalism is based on social nationalism • Economic nationalism: “national interest” • Cosmopolitan identity challenges national identity • Religion as a variation of nationalism

9. “National Democracy” • Democracy operates best in a state while nationalism goes beyond the state • “Armenian State” VS. “The State of Armenia” • State of mind? “Patriotism is when love of your own people comes first; nationalism, when hate for people other than your own comes first.” Charles de Gaulle

10. “National Democracy” • Nation’s VS state’s interest • “Us” VS “Them” in the nation but not in the democratic state • Strong sense of national identity promotes democracy • State neutrality towards any affiliation

11. Cosmopolitan Democracy • Global political community & global citizenship • Cosmopolitan democracy as an attempt to revitalize liberalism • Cosmopolitism as an economic phenomenon “Capital is becoming more and more cosmopolitan and hence cosmopolitism means belonging to all parts of the world; not restricted to any one country or its inhabitants.” John Stuart Mill, Political Economy (1848)

12. Cosmopolitan Democracy • Cosmopolitan democracy or cultural uniformity • Information is power and it empowers individuals • Cosmopolitism does not necessarily harbor democracy (Berlin in the 1930s, Moscow during USSR)

13. Cosmopolitan Nationalism • Can we argue that there is such a thing? • Is internationalism a more suitable term? • Need for new institutions to “absorb” the changing world • Trans-nationalism rather than cosmopolitism

14. Which Way Now? • National (state) democracies before the global one • Democracy as a reality not an ideal • Dialogue or a clash of civilizations? • Glocalization

15. Which Way Now? • International globalization VS Western globalization • Social justice on state and global level “We cannot turn globalization back. Our challenge is to make globalization an instrument of opportunity and inclusion—not fear and insecurity. With all the forces making the world smaller, it is time to change our way of thinking, time to realize we live together in one world, not two -- this poverty is in our community wherever we live. It is our responsibility.” James Wolfensohn

16. Can We Get There? The cosmopolitan society is in itself an unreachable Idea, but it is not a constitutive principle (which is expectant of peace amidst the most vigorous actions and reactions of men). It is only a regulative principle demanding that we yield generously to the cosmopolitan society as the destiny of the human race. Emannuel Kant, Critique of Pure Reason