Political philosophy beyond methodological nationalism

Sager, Alex

doi:10.1111/phc3.12726

Cited by 9 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 76 publications

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“…Another question is to what extent the analysis of these issues has been permeated by methodological nationalism, that is, the cognitive bias whereby states are taken to be the political unit par excellence. This leads to ignoring other actors and phenomena, and to “uncritically and often unconsciously adapting and reifying state‐centered conceptions of territory, space, and community” (Sager, 2021, p. 1). Methodological nationalism is the default stance in international law, and it has also been mostly assumed in the climate justice literature.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Climate justice and territory

Mancilla,

Baard

2023

WIREs Climate Change

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The territorial impacts of climate change will affect millions. This will happen not only as a direct consequence of climate change, but also because of policies for mitigating it—for example, through the installation of large wind and solar farms, the conservation of land in its role as carbon sink, and the extraction of materials needed for renewable energy technologies. In this article, we offer an overview of the justice‐related issues that these impacts create. The literature on climate justice and territory is vast and spans a range of disciplines, so we limit our discussion to a specific understanding of territory and a specific understanding of injustice that arises from its loss. We understand territory as a normative concept that describes a place under some agent's jurisdiction, where the agent is a politically organized collective and where the jurisdictional rights over that place secure a relevant degree of self‐determination for that collective. Accordingly, we consider that the main injustice connected to the loss of territory due to climate change is the loss or undermining of the ability to exercise the collective right to self‐determination, which requires some control over the place. This can happen if a territorial agent literally loses the ground where to stand as a direct effect of climate change, raising issues of justice in relocation; or if their place changes due to mitigation policies, affecting their use and understanding of territory, raising issues of justice in energy transition. In concluding, we point to topics for future research.This article is categorized under: Climate, Nature, and Ethics > Climate Change and Global Justice Climate, Nature, and Ethics > Climate Change and Human Rights Policy and Governance > Governing Climate Change in Communities, Cities, and Regions

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Climate justice and territory

Mancilla,

Baard

2023

WIREs Climate Change

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“…Together, these variants generate an epistemological context in which social entities are seen as universal, taken-for-granted, and positive units-analytical units that, while originating within the sphere of modern Western Europe, are deemed to be positively and objectively generalizable and applicable across all societies (Connell, 2007). Essentialism, universalism, statecentrism, groupism, territorialism, etc., are considered the causing factors as well as manifestations of the bias (Martins, 1974;Wimmer andGlick Schiller, 2002, 2003;Chernilo, 2006Chernilo, , 2011Seidman, 2008;Amelina et al, 2013;Sager, 2016Sager, , 2021.…”

Section: Methodological Nationalismmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Here, it is attempted to reveal that the dominance of methodological nationalism in social science has led to dismissing or naturalizing various social others, otherings and antagonisms that have intentionally or unintentionally brought about the exclusion of so-called internal and external antinational or non-national actors (Wimmer, 2002;Chatterjee, 2020). In this regard, it is claimed that one of the normative consequences of methodological nationalism is the dominance of a kind of state-centered conception of territory, space, and society (Dumitru, 2014), a situation in which "state territories delineate the boundaries of the political; society is conceived as composed of immobile, culturally homogenous citizens, each belonging to one and only one nation-state; and even in economics, the distribution of goods and services are examined according to a sharp contract between the domestic and the international" (Sager, 2016(Sager, , 2018(Sager, , 2021.…”

Section: Methodological Nationalismmentioning

confidence: 99%

Modern episteme, methodological nationalism and the politics of transnationalism

Jong

2023

Front. Polit. Sci.

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Methodological nationalism can be understood in the broadest sense possible as any kind of correspondence between society and the unit of the nation-state. This equation can be traced and understood at two levels: firstly, within the socio-historical context of the rise of nationalism and the development of human and social sciences; and secondly, within the cognitive context of the emergence of nationalism and these sciences, or the modern episteme, in other words. By focusing on the latter, the present article aims to indicate that the problem of methodological nationalism can be effectively grasped by exploring the intricate interplay among modernity, the discourse of nationalism, and the emergence of social science, particularly concerning the modern episteme. It becomes apparent that the regime of foundationalist differentiation ingrained within the modern episteme has established the foundation for this correspondence or congruence—a regime that, while constructing determined, regulated, unified and completed categories, such as society and the social/nation-state and the national, simultaneously sets the ground for the exclusion of other non-social/non-national phenomena and events. In this paper, the objective is to demonstrate how, by disclosing the implementation of this regime as well as highlighting the contingent nature and, consequently, the conditions of the possibility of social phenomena in the path of their grounding, alongside prioritizing the indeterminate social configurations and arguing for a post-foundationalist approach and the politics of transnationalism, it becomes possible to overcome the problem of methodological nationalism. This, in turn, sets a basis for taking into account excluded and indeterminate phenomena and actors within a global context.

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“…However, I contend that Sayad’s work offers important correctives, as we have begun to see. From a methodological perspective, his analysis of ‘state thought’ and immigration paved the way for the critique of methodological nationalism (Wimmer and Glick Schiller, 2003; Sager, 2021) and the development of a transnational understanding of migration (FitzGerald, 2000; Martiniello, 2013). His whole empirical work shows the limitations of any study – even a philosophical one – that considers only the perspective of the host society and neglects emigration.…”

Section: Deconstructing Nationalist Logicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Migration and the critique of ‘state thought’: Abdelmalek Sayad as a political theorist

Boudou

2021

European Journal of Political Theory

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This article argues for reading the Algerian-French sociologist Abdelmalek Sayad (1933–1998) as a political theorist of migration. Various contributions have recently called to move away from the court-like assessment of claims by host states and foreigners and to engage more frankly with empirical work more attentive to concrete experiences and power relations. I contend that Sayad’s sociological work constitutes a substantial empirical and normative resource for ethical and political theory of migration, pointing to the persistence of ‘state thought’ and presenting original normative perspectives on emigration, inclusion in democracy, naturalization or postcolonial relationships. Such a reading of Sayad from a political theory perspective would then constitute a prime example of the cross-fertilization of empirical and normative approaches.

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Political philosophy beyond methodological nationalism

Cited by 9 publications

References 76 publications

Climate justice and territory

Climate justice and territory

Modern episteme, methodological nationalism and the politics of transnationalism

Migration and the critique of ‘state thought’: Abdelmalek Sayad as a political theorist

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