Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in
Book cover

Diversity and Contestations over Nationalism in Europe and Canada pp 155–185Cite as

Palgrave Macmillan

Can We (Still) Think About the European Union and Canada as “Cosmopolitan Vanguards”?

  • Chapter
  • First Online:

Part of the book series: Palgrave Studies in European Political Sociology ((PSEPS))

Abstract

This chapter discusses the EU and Canada as possible cosmopolitan vanguards. The EU and Canada espouse the importance of openness and inclusion, and the need for respecting and valuing difference and diversity, and stress their multinational character. Neither propagates an explicit cosmopolitan doctrine; we must instead look for concrete manifestations of cosmopolitanism in principles, procedures, structural arrangements and actual behaviour. Struggles over recognition can foster inclusiveness insofar as they unfold in a context that contains viable means of political representation and social welfare (re-distribution). The EU is the most explicit attempt at discussing these issues beyond the nation-state framework. Canada discusses them in a context of a contested state, and some of the issues discussed in the EU resonate with discussions in Canada.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD   129.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD   169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD   169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Learn about institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    With regard to the EU, see, for instance , Beck and Grande (2007), Delanty and Rumford (2005), Eriksen (2009a, 2009b) and Eriksen and Fossum (2012). With regard to Canada, see, for instance, Kymlicka and Walker (2012) and Fossum (2012).

  2. 2.

    See Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker’s State of the Union speech 2016, available at: https://ec.europa.eu/priorities/state-union-2016_en

  3. 3.

    There are quite different readings of what precisely cosmopolitanism is. For a brief selection of recent sources, consider Archibugi (2008), Delanty (2009), Holton (2009), Kendall et al. (2009), Turner (2008).

  4. 4.

    For the EU, see, in particular, Article 4 TEU. The Harper government recognised Québec as a nation.

  5. 5.

    I have adapted (Fossum 2008) and extended (with entry ) Hirschman’s (1970) three categories of exit , voice and loyalty in order to capture core dimensions of polity transformation. Other efforts to use Hirschman’s categories are found in Bartolini (2005) and Rokkan (1975).

  6. 6.

    The argument is particularly relevant in a national context because nationalism is a doctrine bent on instilling national identity and converting persons to national consociates.

  7. 7.

    See Marianne Takle, Chap. 14, in this volume.

  8. 8.

    European Commission (2017) “Communication from the Commission to the European Council (Article 50) on the state of progress of the negotiations with the United Kingdom under Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union”, COM (2017) 784 final. The Brexit process basically operates according to a statist (not cosmopolitan) logic, but the Withdrawal Agreement suggests that the EU’s onus on inclusivity prevailed.

  9. 9.

    https://data.oecd.org/migration/foreign-born-population.htm

  10. 10.

    http://www.canadaimmigrationvisa.com/visatype.htm

  11. 11.

    The Canadian multiculturalism policy was introduced in 1971, and in 1988 it became officially enshrined in the Multiculturalism Act. The policy had four objectives: “to support the cultural development of ethnocultural groups; to help members of ethnocultural groups overcome barriers to full participation in Canadian society; to promote creative encounters and interchange among all ethnocultural groups; and to assist new Canadians in acquiring at least one of Canada’s official languages ” (Kymlicka 1998: 15).

  12. 12.

    Canada does not face the progressive dilemma which refers to the tension between diversity and solidarity: “Public attitudes in Canada reveal remarkably little tension between ethnic diversity and support for social programs, and the trajectory of attitudinal change does not raise red flags” (Banting 2010: 798–99).

  13. 13.

    Patti Tamara Lenard, “Wither the Canadian Model? Evaluating the New Canadian Nationalism”, Chap. 8 in this volume.

  14. 14.

    Supreme Court of Canada (1998) Reference Re Secession of Quebec, 2 S.C.R. 217, 20 August 1998, available at: http://www.sfu.ca/~aheard/827/SCC-Que-Secession.html

  15. 15.

    S.C. 2000, c. 26:3.1., available at: http://laws.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/C-31.8/FullText.html

References

  • Archibugi, D. (2008). The Global Commonwealth of Citizens: Towards Cosmopolitan Democracy. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Banting, K. G. (2010). Is there a Progressive’s Dilemma in Canada? Immigration, Multiculturalism and the Welfare State. Canadian Journal of Political Science, 43(4), 797–820.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bartolini, S. (2005). Re-Structuring Europe: Centre Formation, System Building and Political Structuring Between the Nation State and the European Union. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Bauböck, R. (2007). Why European Citizenship? Normative Approaches to Supranational Union. Theoretical Inquiries in Law, 8(2), 452–488.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Beck, U., & Grande, E. (2007). Cosmopolitan Europe. Cambridge: Polity Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Booth, W. J. (1999). Communities of Memory: On Identity, Memory, and Debt. American Political Science Review, 93(2), 249–263.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Buchanan, A. (1997). Theories of Secession. Philosophy & Public Affairs, 26(1), 31–61.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cairns, A. C. (1995). Reconfigurations: Canadian Citizenship and Constitutional Change. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart Inc.

    Google Scholar 

  • Delanty, G. (2009). The Cosmopolitan Imagination. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Delanty, G., & Rumford, C. (2005). Rethinking Europe: Social Theory and the Implications of Europeanization. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Eriksen, E. O. (2009a). The Unfinished Democratization of Europe. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Eriksen, E. O. (2009b). The EU: A Cosmopolitan Vanguard? Global Jurist, 9(1), Article 6.

    Google Scholar 

  • Eriksen, E. O., & Fossum, J. E. (Eds.). (2012). Rethinking Democracy and the European Union. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fabbrini, S. (2015). Which European Union? Europe After the Euro Crisis. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Fasone, C. (2014). European Economic Governance and Parliamentary Representation. What Place for the European Parliament? European Law Journal, 20(2), 164–185.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fossum, J. E. (2003). The European Union in Search of an Identity. European Journal of Political Theory, 2(3), 319–340.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fossum, J. E. (2008). Constitutional Patriotism: Canada and the European Union. In P. Mouritsen & K. E. Jørgensen (Eds.), Constituting Communities—Political Solutions to Cultural Difference (pp. 138–161). Basingstoke: Palgrave.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fossum, J. E. (2012). Cosmopolitanisation in Europe and Beyond. In E. O. Eriksen & J. E. Fossum (Eds.), Rethinking Democracy and the European Union (pp. 159–178). London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Genschel, P., & Jachtenfuchs, M. (2014). Beyond the Regulatory Polity? The European Integration of Core State Powers. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Habermas, J. (1997). Kant’s Idea of Perpetual Peace, with the Benefit of Two Hundred Years’ Hindsight. In J. Bohman & M. Lutz-Bachmann (Eds.), Perpetual Peace. Essays on Kant’s Cosmopolitan Ideal. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Habermas, J. (2006). The Divided West. Cambridge: Polity Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hirschman, A. O. (1970). Exit, Voice, Loyalty. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Holton, R. (2009). Cosmopolitanism: New Thinking and New Directions. Basingstoke: Palgrave.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Hooghe, L., & Marks, G. (2009). A Postfunctionalist Theory of European Integration: From Permissive Consensus to Constraining Dissensus. British Journal of Political, Sciences, 39(1), 1–23.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hooghe, L., & Marks, G. (2015). Delegation and Pooling in International Organisations. Review of International Organizations, 10(3), 305–328.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jenson, J. (2007). The European Union’s Citizenship Regime. Creating Norms and Building Practices. Comparative European Politics, 5(1), 53–69.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Joerges, C. (2014). Law and Politics in Europe’s Crisis: On the History of the Impact of an Unfortunate Configuration. Constellations, 21(2), 249–261.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kendall, G., Woodward, I., & Skrbis, Z. (2009). The Sociology of Cosmopolitanism: Globalization, Identity, Culture and Government. Basingstoke: Palgrave.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Kymlicka, W. (1998). Finding Our Way. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kymlicka, W., & Walker, K. (Eds.). (2012). Rooted Cosmopolitanism—Canada and the World. Vancouver: UBC Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • LaSelva, S. V. (1996). The Moral Foundations of Canadian Federalism: Paradoxes, Achievements, and Tragedies of Nationhood. Montreal: McGill-Queen’s University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lenard, P. T., & Moore, M. (2012). A Defence of Moderate Cosmopolitanism and/or Moderate Liberal Nationalism. In W. Kymlicka & K. Walker (Eds.), Rooted Cosmopolitanism—Canada and the World (pp. 47–68). Vancouver: UBC Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lenard, P. T., & Straehle, C. (Eds.). (2012). Legislated Inequality—Temporary Labour Migration in Canada. Montreal-Kingston: McGill-Queen’s University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Menéndez, A. J. (2013). The Existential Crisis of the European Union. German Law Journal, 14(5), 453–525.

    Google Scholar 

  • Menéndez, A. J. (2016). The Refugee Crisis: Between Human Tragedy and Symptom of the Structural Crisis of European Integration. European Law Journal, 22(4), 388–416.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Müller, J.-W. (2006). On the Origins of Constitutional Patriotism. Contemporary Political Theory, 5(3), 278–296.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Norman, W. (2001). Justice and Stability in Multination States. In J. Tully & A.-G. Gagnon (Eds.), Struggles for Recognition in Multinational Societies. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Offe, C. (1998). Homogeneity’ and Constitutional Democracy: Coping with Identity Conflicts through Group Rights. The Journal of Political Philosophy, 6(2), 113–141.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rokkan, S. (1975). Dimensions of State Formation and Nation Building: A Possible Paradigm for Research on Variations Within Europe. In C. Tilly (Ed.), The Formation of National States in Western Europe. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shaw, J. (2007). The Transformation of Citizenship in the European Union. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Taylor, C. (1993). Reconciling the Solitudes: Essays on Canadian Federalism and Nationalism. Montreal-Kingston: McGill-Queen’s University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Thym, D. (2016). ‘Citizens’ and ‘Foreigners’ in EU Law. Migration Law and Its Cosmopolitan Outlook. European Law Journal, 22(3), 296–316.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Turner, B. (2008). Rights and Virtues. Oxford: Bardwell Press.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway

    John Erik Fossum

Authors
  1. John Erik Fossum
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. ARENA Centre for European Studies, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway

    John Erik Fossum

  2. CNRS, Sciences Po, Paris, France

    Riva Kastoryano

  3. Department of Culture and Global Studies, Aalborg University, Aalborg, Denmark

    Birte Siim

Copyright information

© 2018 The Author(s)

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Fossum, J.E. (2018). Can We (Still) Think About the European Union and Canada as “Cosmopolitan Vanguards”?. In: Fossum, J., Kastoryano, R., Siim, B. (eds) Diversity and Contestations over Nationalism in Europe and Canada. Palgrave Studies in European Political Sociology. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-58987-3_6

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-58987-3_6

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-137-58986-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-137-58987-3

  • eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation