First Person Plural, Immigration and Globalization

The mutual and reciprocal visits rendered mandatory by the end of Ramadan and Eid besides being joyous occasions enables Muslims to meet and socialize with friends, family, kith and kin. It was this fraternization and socialization with my extended family that revealed some interested insights to me. These insights pertain(ed) to the nature of the globalized world we live in, the reduced salience of territorial nationalism and west bound immigration.  Inherent in globalization is fluidity, porosity and permeability and this is giving short shrift to traditional notions of nationalism and its concomitant, territorial citizenship.

 

This was rendered and made poignant to me by the remarks of a cousin of mine- a naturalized citizen of New Zealand married to a Malaysian- Pakistani woman. The guy , during the conversation I had with him kept on referring to ,his experiences and understanding of New Zealand in the first person plural. His concluding remarks, on the parallels and contrasts that we drew between life in India and the west, were even more poignant. He referred to being an immigrant in the west as a ‘package’ and deemed it as much and far better than the ‘package’ in India. This may or not be true. However, it is reflective of the experiences of the hordes of non westerners who emigrate to the west is in the final analysis is reflective of the west’s ‘soft power’.(The west in contention here is the Anglo Saxon and Anglophone west. It is this ‘neo west’ that is a bastion of immigration and ‘soft power’. Western and Continental Europe is too mired in identity crises and xenophobia to countenance the presence and acceptance of immigrants as part of their society).

 

While immigration is an age old phenomenon and dates back to perhaps the origin of species, so to speak, in its modern avatar and form, it is made possible by globalization. This means and implies the massive movement of peoples across borders and nation states and living in different cultural, social and economic milieus. The thrust of this immigration, it must be emphasized, is west ward. It reflects , among other things, the nature of the Anglo Saxon and Anglophone west as tolerant and accepting. The questions that this immigration and its impact on nationalism, citizenship, belonging and ethnicity raise are manifold. The most salient of these are: Is the concept territorial nationalism passé? How should the nation state- traditionally and conceptually- a self contained homogenous entity- react or adjust to this? Is the individual who bears the ‘burden’ of multiple identities a composite individual? And what lessons should states and nations struggling with ethno nationalism and secessionism take from this?

 

Territorial nationalism first. The premise of territorial nationalism was sacralatization of the ‘nation’ and the assumption that citizens or more accurately denizens of a particular place owed their allegiance to the place where they were born. This monofocal concept was and is a construct and its assumptions are given short shrift by globalization and immigration. In the final analysis, it would appear that allegiance to a country or nation is premised on an admixture of utilitarian calculations, acceptance by the host society, and a guarantee of rights, freedom and the concomitant expansive live. (The example of my cousin is a classic example of this). Opportunities of personal advancement, reasonably decent living conditions and life style comprise the utilitarian aspects.  The more abstract ones-freedom, rights and an opportunity ti live the ‘good life’ are no less important. It is these factors and conditions that cumulatively and ultimately determine an individual’s allegiance and loyalty to a nation, society or culture. In these respects, it is again the Anglophone west that scores above all other societies and nations. Does this mean that territorial nationalism is dead?  And what can states and nations gripped by ethno nationalist sentiment learn from this?

 

Ethno nationalism is not dead. It is alive and kicking in many parts of the world especially in the post colonial nation states. In fact, it is conflicts accruing from these ethno nationalism struggles that form the grist and mill of international relations in the contemporary world. These states should take a cue from the advanced Anglo phone and Anglo Saxon west and attempt to morph into multi cultural societies along the lines of the western model. This means accepting and even celebrating difference, according flesh to guarantees of rights in their moribund constitutions and morphing into liberal democracies.  This can and should be complemented by an obsessive focus on economic growth and  free(r) trade. Or, in other words, more globalization. It is perhaps only after these conditions obtain in the post colonial states that an individual would transfer his or her allegiance to the state in contention more intensely and deeply. This is the lesson that non western, post colonial states should learn from the Anglo phone and Anglo Saxon experience.

 

Fluid identities and multi culturalism are then the name of the game for both peaceful, prosperous and vibrant nations. And these identities , instead of being burdensome, can be enriching, rewarding and fulsome. A range of experiences –denied to the mono cultural and monofocial individual-are available to the mutli identitied person. This expands horizons and to repeat is rewarding and corresponds to the Kantian vision of the world. So let us celebrate this world and bring its fruits to ‘areas of darkness’.