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Nationstate or Empire
Can’t we be more creative? Imagining new polities and relaxing barriers.*
*This essay is quite tentative and I’ll probably update it and add more ideas. Therefore, feedback is much appreciated.
Throughout the great swaps of civilisational history, there has existed three main forms of political organisation (or polity): empire, the city-state or the nation-state. A brief definition of each:
Nation: The nation is the predominant form of political organisation today, what we may also call the leading ideology of modernity. The nation state is based upon a common conception of culture, history and to varying extent language. It is also characterised by a clear geographic limits, where pieces of land are defined as “French”, “Chinese” or “Australian”. The nation also gives the citizen a “nationality”, which can be categorised as civic or ethnic. We shall return to the latter later.
Empire: The Empire has been the leading polity throughout history, and contrary to the nation, empire is not restricted to the same extent to a common identity or geographic area. Empire can be culturally pluralistic, as long as they remain loyal to the core. Examples may be the Roman Empire or the Mongol Empire.
