Liberal nationalisme og politisk teori

Abstract

Politically and morally, liberal nationalism is a controversial political theory. Modern political theory tends to argue in favour of a liberal-egalitarian, multi-cultural or cosmopolitan theory. Distinguishing himself from mainstream political theory, David Miller claims the necessity of integrating a national-theoretical argument into political theory. In this paper, I critically examine Miller’s argument. First, I distinguish between a strong and a weak version of the idea that nationality and national fellowship are constitutive of individual identity. Secondly, I discuss Miller’s argument for the moral relevance of national obligations. It is shown that the national aspect of obligations is arbitrarily chosen and does not vindicate a moral relevance of nationality. Finally, the argument for national responsibility is taken into consideration. National responsibility is an innovative idea within modern political theory, i.e. theories of collective responsibility. e strength of the argument of national responsibility is dependent on the assumption that national fellowship is a morally relevant entity. An assumption, however, that is insu ciently justi ed.