False Hope of Transnationalism

Mićunović, Natalija (2019) False Hope of Transnationalism. In: Xenophobia, Identity and New Forms of Nationalism. Series Edited Volumes . Institute of social sciences, Belgrade, pp. 71-85. ISBN 978-86-7093-223-4

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Abstract

We think of transnationalism as a tendency to delegate local, national and regional problems to transnational bodies and extol their virtues as unquestionably unbiased, rational, expert informed, consensual, creating a system informed by Habermasian communication. In the present state of world affairs, problems ranging from political, climatic, environmental and economic issues, to those concerning human rights infringements and biological and social diversity, are often seen as solvable through expert handling and mediated negotiations. The virtues of old-fashioned internationalism (of the Communist International, for instance) are dissolved in particularism and corporate style (because we need to understand the true nature of transnational institutions as corporations) identity politics. Growing grassroots alt-right and mass populist low right movements attest to a disoriented rage towards the faceless acronyms (like IMF) deciding on millions of individual destinies. The hope of internationalism as the bright future of humanity is highjacked to a collection of phrases at worst and humiliating humanitarian aid at best.

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