Nation-state Model Research Articles

Citizenship Model in the Age of International Migration

What should be the most important topic for transnational sociology in the 21st century? Some cases at the end of the 20th century signify a challenge to the nation-state. Transnational sociology should propose a new citizenship model which can replace that of the nation-state. The challenge to the nation-state derives from the acceleration and diversification of international migration, emerging universal human rights and a fear of losing social integration. The alternative models, which emphasize citizenship, are incompatible with the nation-state model. Shared culture, presupposed by birth or blood, cannot legitimize a new citizenship model for the 21st century. Transnational sociological imagination is needed in order to explore whether domicile or other factors can form the basis on which a new citizenship model can be established.

The Reconstruction of Religious Arenas in the Framework of `Multiple Modernities'

There has lately taken place a far-reaching resurgence or reconstruction of the religious dimension in the contemporary world. It is manifested among others in the rise of new religious, especially fundamentalist and communal-national movements, and in the crystallisation of new diasporas with a prominent religious identity. This reconstruction transcends the vision of the classical cultural and political program of modernity and of the ‘classical’ model of the modern nationstate. This resurgence of the religious dimension is very important for the evaluation of the many interpretations of the contemporary world, especially those that proclaim, from often opposing vantage points, the possibility that the classical modern project, as it has developed for the last two centuries, is exhausted. In one version the possibility of such exhaustion takes the form of the ‘end of history’ as proclaimed by Francis Fukuyama; the ideological premises of modernity with all the tensions and contradictions inherent in them are understood as almost irrelevant, enabling paradoxically the rise of multiple postmodern visions, and the new religious movements are on the whole seen as temporary ‘aberrations’. In another view of the exhaustion of the modern program or withdrawal from it, that of, to use Samuel Huntington’s terminology, the ‘clash of civilisations’, these new religious movements play indeed a very central role. Huntington understands the Western civilisational vision—the seeming epitome of modernity—as often confronted in hostile terms with other, especially the Muslim and to some extent the so-called Confucian. Within this civilisational conflict, traditional, fundamentalist, anti-modern, and anti-Western movements are predominant and

Law in an Emerging Global Village: A Post-Westphalian Perspective

Already highly acclaimed as a seminal analysis of the New World Order, Professor Falk's Law in an Emerging Global Village clearly establishes a new arena of international law where three distinct historical forces meet and contend: the old Westphalian nation-state model, the global civil society as represented by international human rights conventions, and transnational market forces that pervade nearly every area of life as well as legal practice. As manifestations of the substantive legal realities of the post-Westphalian order, Professor Falk focuses on: the United Nations Charter's mandate for humanitarian intervention and how it has been interpreted and applied in actual interventions; the urgent need for international environmental protection and its diminished support in the dominant international neoliberal regime; the significance of the codification of the law of the sea, especially in respect of naval operations; and the continuing failure of initiatives to unilaterally outlaw nuclear weapons. This book concludes with a detailed discussion of the prospects for humane governance in the coming global civilization.

The political geography of European minorities: past and future

The authors distinguish in Europe about 200 compact ethnic areas and assess the degree of political tension and risk in each of them using 16 variables characterizing the number of a minority, the geopolitical and the cultural situation in its area, its economic performance, the political status, and the level of political mobilization. They estimate the change in the number and the size of ethnic minorities in their areas in 1910–1993 in Western and Eastern Europe and analyse two hypothetical scenarios supposing disintegration and re-integration of existing states. The conclusion is made that the last act of the European geopolitical drama has yielded the greatest ‘advantage’ for the former minorities in Central and Eastern Europe, but, as calculations show, the nationstate model became a less effective tool to solve ethnic problems, since each new secession engenders the appearance of new minorities. Two types of ethnic areas are identified in Europe, which can be described as the Balkan, or Caucasian, and the West-European, though the last is also characteristic for large East-European countries. © 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved

Problems of Citizenship and Mexican Immigrants in the United States of America

The theoretical framework of this paper is “citizenship” which means the equal status of members of a nation-state as well as the rights and duties attached to that status. Due to the considerable influx and settlement of immigrants into Western countries, protection of citizenship rights has become an issue not only for citizens but also for foreigners residing in the immigrated country. Citizenship includes three elements, that is, civil rights, political rights and social rights. Among these, social rights have increased in importance. T.H. Marshall points out, however, the disparity between the proclaimed equality of citizenship and the existing inequality of social classes.In the United States, qualification for social rights is open to non-citizens, while suffrage is limited to citizens. Yet Mexican immigrants have been treated as outsiders through both the U.S. border control and labor policies. Mexican immigrants have been placed at the bottom of the American social stratum as low wage labor and have experienced harsh social inequality. This reflects the Anglo-centered national formation and the history of discrimination toward non-white people. They are not only stigmatized as a burden of welfare, discriminated as an ethnic minority, but also suspected as illegal immigrants.The American society is faced with a dilemma : On the one hand, immigrants are constantly allowed to come and enjoy more citizenship rights. On the other hand, the exclusiveness based on the nation-state model is still obvious in policies and public opinions. Also, the unequal class relations in accord with ethnicity has been maintained among immigrants, not to mention citizens. To protect equal rights of immigrants, we need to seek a new concept of citizenship and a social movement beyond the nation-state.

World Expansion of Mass Education, 1870-1980

Newly available enrollment data for over 120 countries for the period 1870-1980 are used to examine theories of mass educational expansion. Event-history analyses indicate that mass educational systems appeared at a steady rate before the 1940s and sharply increased after 1950. Pooled panel regressions show that the expansion of mass education, once formed, followed an S-shaped diffusion pattern before 1940, continuing with added force later. Expansion is endemic in the system. National variation exists; indications of national modernization or of structural location in world society, however, have only modest effects. It seems that mass education spreads in a world organized politically as nation-states and candidate states. Rates of appearance of mass education and of expansion accelerated sharply after World War II, with the intensification of the nation-state model and the centrality of mass education in this model.

The Arms Race: A Perspective on Asia

In Asia, the arms race began with the emergence of modern nation-states. Their new ruling elites adopted the concepts of ‘national security’ and ‘national interests’ and proceeded to build up their armed forces to meet mythical permanent threats, to the neglect of real threats to Asian societies such as hunger, natural calamities and cultural decay. With the great powers themselves engaged in a global arms race, taking advantage of the Asian elites' preoccupation with ‘national security’, the race in Asia has become a part of the global arms race with China as the latest - but somewhat restrained - entrant. The paper, however, notes a reverse historical trend under way: the European nation-state model being increasingly found unworkable in Asia (leading to a search for structures suitable to the complex Asian societies) and Asian states trying to opt out of global rivalries. This favourable trend, which promises to wind down the arms race in Asia, must, the paper concludes, be actively pushed forward by concerned citizens of Asian countries who form the Third System in Asia.