Has the Bear Got a New Skin? The Transformation of Nationalism in Europe

• In Event: Sovereignty, Rule of Law and Democracy Challenges in Contemporary Europe

Abstract

The aim of the paper is to discuss nationalism in the post-Brexit period (2016-2020). Because of the negative consequences of Brexit on British politics and economics, nationalism has had to face the challenge to adapt to European integration and interdependence. This adaptation is here conceptualized as ‘sovereignism’. The research has thus identified commonalities and differences in the sovereignist narrative. In general, all sovereignists criticized the supranational character (institutional sovereignism) and the centralized policy system (policy sovereignism) which has developed within the EU. However, sovereignists differed on the rationale of their criticism, based more on an economic discourse (economic sovereignism) in western Europe and more on a cultural discourse (cultural sovereignism) in eastern Europe. If sovereignism aims to become the alternative to Europeanism from within the process of integration, the road to follow in order to define itself is still long. Because of its many unsolved contradictions, sovereignism has had to rely more and more on populist appeals for justifying its criticism of integration of Europe. The nationalistic bear has not yet got a new skin.

Author

• Sergio Fabbrini, Luiss Guido Carli