National Identity and Diversity: Towards Plural Nationalism

Abstract

Despite the forces of economic and political globalization that have been sweeping Europe and the world in the last few decades, the nation remains an important form of collective identity around which political life is organized. While violent ethnic conflicts are no longer common in Europe (with the notable and still recent exception of former Yugoslavia), it is the wish for national autonomy in political and economic governance that is largely behind the ongoing crisis of the euro currency and of European (economic and political) governance overall. Indeed, despite five decades of European institution building, free movement for European citizens within the entire European Union territory and a common currency since 2002, the basic propositions of the nationalist doctrine, namely that the world is naturally divided into nations and that the nation is the only legitimate source of political power, seems to still reign strong in social and political life across Europe.