5th International Conference
of the Group for Social Engagement Studies
Institute for Philosophy and Social Theory, University in Belgrade
POLITICS OF ENMITY: CAN NATION EVER BE EMANCIPATORY?
Belgrade, 26-28 September 2016
Nation and nationalism are in many ways peculiar and elusive concepts that could very easily be interpreted as being both ’banal’ and infinitely complex; primordial and modern; imagined and real. Since belonging to a specific national group can be seen as an important source of collective strength for many, solidarity of these collectives may serve as the basis for action to further strengthen these (imagined) bonds. The process itself, more often than not, assumes the existence of another, equally potent, equally solidary collective – most often irreducibly distinct from ours. This positioning which comes part and parcel with the idea of the nation – more so with nationalism – seems to centre around the idea of enmity: the antipode of solidarity among those who belong to ‘Us’. Enmity, as well as solidarity, is thus one of the cornerstones of the ‘practicing of nation’, something which shapes and perpetuates nation as a political identitary framework.
It is often argued that nationalism can be seen as the modern form of Gemeinschaft which answers ontological needs created by the uncertainties of modernity and its power structures. On the other hand, we witness a growth of a global society with an increasingly integrated system, primarily socio-economic, but also cultural and perhaps political. Globalisation creates opportunities, but also crises in which we have to remake our lives and identities (Giddens, 2000). At the same time, social relations continue to be governed and institutionalised in accordance with national temporalities and located within the spaces of the nation. The shift from national to post-national regime cannot be established. Rather, what we see is the emergence of trans-border nationalism as a perverted adaptation of the nation-state model (Brubaker, 2015). The powers of the nation-state are increasing in spite of the global challenges of migration, opening the new perspectives on solidarity but also on enmity.
