Nationalism versus Cosmopolitanism: a comparative approach

De vegades s’acostuma a presentar el nacionalisme i el cosmopolitisme com a contraris l’un de l’altre, i els investigadors que s’autodefineixen com a «cosmopolites» tendeixen a mantenir una actitud molt crítica respecte a tot el que inclogui la paraula «nacionalisme» i/o «nacional». Ser nacionalista és vistfreqüentment com un obstacle per a adoptar una perspectiva cosmopolita, com si hi estigués en oposició directa. Per què passa això? Hi ha alguna circumstància particular en què cosmopolitisme i nacionalisme puguin coexistir i ser compatibles? O, ben al contrari, ens trobem al davant de dues ideologies incompatibles? Seguint els debats actuals sobre aquests temes, aquest article ofereix una anàlisi acurada de les condicions específiques en què nacionalismei cosmopolitisme poder resultar compatibles.paraules clau: Nacionalisme, cosmopolitisme, democràcia, nació, Catalunya.Nationalism and cosmopolitanism are often portrayed as radically opposed to each other and scholars defining themselves as ‘cosmopolitans’ tend to display a very critical attitude towards anything that includes the word ‘nationalism’ and/ or ‘national’. Being a nationalist is frequently regarded as an obstacle to adopting a cosmopolitan outlook, as being in direct opposition with it. Why is this so? Are there any particular circumstancesin which both cosmopolitanism and nationalism can coexist and be compatible? Or, on the contrary, are we faced with two irreconcilable ideologies? Following current debates on these issues, this paper offers a careful analysis of the specific conditions in which nationalism and cosmopolitanism might become compatible. The paper is divided into four sections. First, it considers the treatment of nationalism in classical social theory and offers a detailed analysis of the concepts of state, nationand nationalism as well as the interrelations between the three. Second it introduces cosmopolitanism by studying its origins, development and key principles. Third, the paper adopts a comparative theoretical approach to establish a distinction between democratic and non- democratic forms of nationalism. To illustrate this it examines democratic Catalan nationalism, as exemplified by the Assembly of Catalonia (1971), as an opposition movement to Franco’s dictatorship which embodied both national as well as cosmopolitan concerns.key words: Nationalism, cosmopolitanism, democracy, nation, Catalonia