The Liberal State Vs The National Soul: Mapping Civil Society Transplants

Abstract

The story of the liberal agenda in the former Yugoslavia and other ‘societies in transition’ is a process involving a unity of opposites - of particularism and universalism; local nationalism and global liberalism. This essay suggests a set of tools with which to re-examine the work of foreign actors engaged in ‘rule of law’ and ‘civil society’ projects in countries such as the former Yugoslavia. The essay examines three orientations of the dominant paradigm informing the work of foreign intervenors and asserts counter-orientations. The author argues that there has not been a convergence to a liberal ideal; the liberal agenda cannot be transplanted wholesale to ‘societies in transition’ as localisms, including nationalisms, challenge claims to universalisms. Both liberalism and nationalism have the potential to be either liberatory or oppressive forces; however, no solution can be viable without an accommodation of both. To better examine the liberal campaign, the essay charts the actors at play, the rhetoric they use and the stakes at hand. The goal of such a mapping is to provoke the kind of inquiry that could change the plot, or at least give some of the minor characters a more major role in the production.