IGU CPG

Session Title: The end of endism? The Revival of the Nation State in Global Geopolitics

Session Convenors: Elena Dell’Agnese, Virginie Mamadouh, Università di Milano-Bicocca / Universiteit van Amsterdam 

Email: v.d.mamadouh@uva.nl

While (political) geographers have long questioned the end of the nation-state and the end of state borders narratives, their sudden dismissal around the world has bewildered them equally. This dismissal has been unexpected and highly contagious: a wave ending endist narratives and bringing nationalism and sovereignty back to fore of political debates. Such narratives have been articulated by (new or refurbished) political parties and broader movements that met unexpected electoral success in Hungary, Poland, and more recently in the US, Austria, Italy, Brazil. They take the form of populist discourses suggesting the existence of a monolith “people” with an essentialist identity and a clear national interest that has to take back control from a cosmopolitan elite thanks to a charismatic leader. These new frames echo nationalist narratives in Russia, China, India or the Philippines where autocratic leaders are in fashion too. Whether targeting globalization and free-trade, international migration and multiculturalism, Europeanization and international governance, or all of the above at the same time, new nationalist sovereignty narratives have emerged in places as varied as England and Italy, with one resulting in Brexit, the other in defiance of EU budgetary rules. Catchy mottos such as America First have a direct and deep impact on inclusion and exclusion processes, affecting social cohesion, identities, and power relations. They also guide foreign policy and affect international relations (border disputes, trade agreements), global governance (asylum, climate change) and regional collaborative efforts such as the EU. The Commission on Political Geography of the IGU sponsors a session for papers that analyze and theorize the political geography of this revival of nationalism and sovereignty in Europe and beyond. Papers may focus on domestic political geographies, on international relations or the interaction between populism, identities and geopolitical visions. Case studies, comparative studies and conceptual papers are welcome.

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Please send your abstracts (maximum 250 words) to Virginie Mamadouh (v.d.mamadouh@uva.nl) and Elena Dell’Agnese (elena.dellagnese@unimib.it)  by January 21st 2019.