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This Thesis Has Been Submitted in Fulfilment of the Requirements for a Postgraduate Degree (E.G This thesis has been submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for a postgraduate degree (e.g. PhD, MPhil, DClinPsychol) at the University of Edinburgh. Please note the following terms and conditions of use: • This work is protected by copyright and other intellectual property rights, which are retained by the thesis author, unless otherwise stated. • A copy can be downloaded for personal non-commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge. • This thesis cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the author. • The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the author. • When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given. Nationhood in the Global Era: An Inquiry into Contemporary Political Self Michal Rozynek PhD – The University of Edinburgh – 2011 Contents ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................ VI ABSTRACT ................................................................................................ VIII DECLARATION ............................................................................................ IX INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................... 10 Method ................................................................................................................................... 13 What is a Nation? ................................................................................................................... 14 Definition of the Self/Subject ................................................................................................ 16 Is National Identity Inherently Collectivist and Undemocratic? ............................................ 17 Are National Borders Apolitical and Arbitrary? .................................................................... 19 Are Nations an Obstacle to the Moral Progression of Mankind? .......................................... 20 1 ................................................................................................................... 23 DEFINING THE NATION AS A FORM OF POLITICAL EXPERIENCE ...... 23 1.1. A Problematic Definition ................................................................................................ 25 1.2 Recasting the Question: What Is a Nation?...................................................................... 27 1.2.1. First Dimension: Nations as Constructs ................................................................................ 28 1.2.2. Second Dimension: Sensus Communis .................................................................................. 31 1.2.3. Third Dimension: Universality .............................................................................................. 35 1.3 Implications for Supra-national Governance and Citizenship ......................................... 39 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................. 40 2 ................................................................................................................... 42 ii ON THE MODERN IDEA OF THE SELF AND INDIVIDUAL AUTONOMY . 42 2.1. Two Types of Dualism .................................................................................................... 44 2.1.1. The Classical World: Soul and Body..................................................................................... 47 2.1.2. Modern Self: ‗Subject‘ vs. ‗Object‘....................................................................................... 52 2.2. The Tension within the Modern Self and the Paradox of Individual Autonomy. ........... 60 2.2.1. The Concept of Autonomy .................................................................................................... 62 2.2.2. Authorship and the Dilemma of the Modern Self .................................................................. 64 2.3. A Way Out? .................................................................................................................... 68 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................. 72 3 ................................................................................................................... 74 DEFENDING THE ‘POLITICAL’ DIMENSION OF NATIONHOOD ............. 74 3.1. Why Nationhood is Not a Relationship Between Citizens ............................................. 76 3.1.1. Cives vs. The Nation: Michael Oakeshott‘s Concept of Civil Association ........................... 78 3.1.2. State as a Legal Community: Hobbes‘s Concept of Right .................................................... 83 3.2. Nationhood as the Anti-Political: Arendt‘s Account of the French Revolution ............. 86 3.3. Nationhood and the Limits of ‗The Political‘ ................................................................. 93 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................. 95 4 ................................................................................................................... 97 WHY POLITICS REQUIRES A BOUNDED COMMUNITY. ......................... 97 4.1. Politics and Its ‗Enemies‘ ............................................................................................. 100 4.1.1. The Classical Concept of Politics ........................................................................................ 100 4.1.2. Hannah Arendt and the ‗Invasion of the Social‘ .................................................................. 103 4.1.3. Carl Schmitt‘s Concept of ‗The Political‘ ........................................................................... 105 4.2. Why Politics Cannot Be Universal ............................................................................... 109 4.3. Nationhood and Bounded Rationality ........................................................................... 113 iii Conclusion ........................................................................................................................... 118 5 ................................................................................................................. 119 COSMOPOLITANISM VS. NATIONALIST PARTICULARISM: BEYOND THE ALTERNATIVE .................................................................................. 119 5.1. Definitions..................................................................................................................... 122 5.1.1. Cosmopolitanism ............................................................................................................. 122 5.1.2. Nationalist Particularism ................................................................................................. 125 5.2. The Debate .................................................................................................................... 127 5.2.1. Cultural Cosmopolitanism............................................................................................... 127 5.2.2. Cosmopolitanism about Justice ..................................................................................... 133 5.2.3. The Case for the Nation .................................................................................................. 136 5.3. Moving Beyond the Alternative .................................................................................... 142 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................... 144 6 ................................................................................................................. 146 IN DEFENCE OF A COMPREHENSIVE VIEW OF THE NATION ............ 146 6.1. Nations Mediate Between the Self and the Public World ............................................. 148 6.2. Nationhood as a Source of Moral and Political Agency ............................................... 152 6.3. Universalist Nationalism or Rooted Cosmopolitanism ................................................. 155 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................... 159 7 ................................................................................................................. 161 POST-NATIONAL THOUGHT: IS NATIONAL IDENTITY IN RETREAT? 161 7.1. Critique of Subjectivity: Foucault and his Disciples ..................................................... 165 7.2. Post-National Thought .................................................................................................. 171 iv 7.2.1. Post-modern Particularism: Hardt and Negri‘s Empire ....................................................... 172 7.2.2. Postmodern Particularism: Beck‘s Cosmopolitan Outlook ................................................. 175 7.3. Analysis: The Not-So-New Modernity ......................................................................... 179 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................... 182 CONCLUSION ........................................................................................... 183 Findings
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