Complexity, Nationalism and Political Theory How complexity permits ethnic nationalists and multiculturalists to rub along together Eric Kaufmann, Birkbeck College, University of London

The Communitarian Challenge Starting point is Rawls' Theory of Justice (1971) Idea of 'archimedean point': a universal perspective on ethics free of particularity of place and time Communitarians critique it from mid-70s: Alasdair MacIntyre, Michael Sandel, Charles Taylor and Michael Walzer Charge that ethics must be implemented in the concrete social reality of this world, not an abstract one

Deeper Questions Posed by Communitarians Must autonomy and equality be the only versions of the Good? Can we really construct our authentic selves by inward reflection ('I think therefore I am' or Sartre's café existentialism) or are not we not in some way the product of our upbringing and social interactions? Is western liberalism really a universal creed that all cultures should come to adopt?

Multiculturalism Liberalism, Community and Culture (1989), followed by a number of works in 1990s Taylor's Multiculturalism and the Politics of Recognition (1994) Inspired partly by 'multicultural' movement of minorities for 'recognition' vis a vis majority culture in Canada Canadian multiculturalism policy dates from 1971, similar demands in US since late 60s

Liberal Nationalism Abstract state of Rawls Jurgen Habermas suggests a 'constitutional patriotism' Viroli argues for a more romantic republican 'patriotism' based on state institutions Yael Tamir (1993) and David Miller (1995) argue that this is too 'thin' to be meaningful Liberal Nationalism is fair, feasible, desirable

Liberal Nationalism Need solidarity for welfare state, democracy, equality to function Strike a balance between minority recognition and the nation “Civic nationalism” is the best compromise Cul de sac of multiculturalism vs. national integration

National Identity and Multiculturalism: breaking the deadlock In most western societies, issues around immigrant incorporation are symbolic rather than material or political Official discourse School curriculum Very little power/money allocated to ethnic group bodies

Complexity Theory and the Nation Complexity from simplicity: higher level coordination emerges from uncoordinated lower-level actions. Self-organising. Emergence ‘Wisdom of crowds’: knowledge is distributed among individuals rather than centralised in the state Examples: market, forest, city

1.Emergence

Classic v Complex Diffusion ‘State’ – top down diffusion. Gradual, out from centre to peripheries and down social scale ‘Market’ – bottom-up. Peer-to-peer emergence. Erratic, subject to tipping points and ideas can go ‘viral’

Bottom-up processes of nationalism ‘Everyday nationalism’ (Deloye, Edensor, Fox, etc) Popular nationalism (Sidel on Philippines; Kammen/O’Leary on USA) Local nationalism: ‘Heimat’ version of nation (Confino, Applegate, Zimmer, Leersen 2014)

The Wisdom of Crowds

Poll of Polls?

Multiple Perspectives on the Nation Zones of conflict (Hutchinson 2005) Lenses of nationhood (Kaufmann 2008) Multivocality (Turner 1967; Eriksen 2014)

Multivocal, not multicultural Multicultural, with white peripheries English ethnic nation, multicultural cities, Celtic periphery

Multivocalism/Multi-Nationalism Current vogue for integrationist civic nationalism alienates multiculturalists and ethno-nationalists Why not establish a common minimum (mutual respect, equality) and fill in the blanks? Wide range of lenses on the nation tolerated and validated Tailor-made nationalism, multivocal symbols

Constructive Ambiguity Wording is ambiguous Sold differently to each side Leaders allow each side to believe the deal favours them No problem if ethnic Englishman identifies with Britain through her ethnicity

Examples Decentralised Social movements (ie Muslim Brotherhood – Wickham 2002) ‘franchise’ model of political parties (Carty 2002) Should not be extended into realms of hard power and expenditure (ie ‘Big Society’, devo- max, ‘multi-speed Europe’) Power/money remain zero-sum; symbols more flexible for positive sum solutions