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@marc_saxer

@marc_saxer

Another interesting article on progressive patriotism, this time by @marc_saxer. Don't agree with everything but raises some important points. Here are some of the article's key arguments (direct quotes):

ips-journal.eu/regions/europe…

To beat right-wing populism, politicians need to put more effort into restoring people’s control over their lives and their sense of community and belonging to society. This takes more than material security.

People need an identity that gives them the pride, recognition and self-esteem to be able to engage with a fast-changing world. Therefore, social democracy has to offer an identity to all those who are looking for protection and belonging.

Social democracy never shied away from drawing on the emotional energy of collective identities. In the days of the labour movement, institutions from hiking clubs and choirs to gymnastics groups were essential in building the awareness of the working class.

Second, conflicts of material distribution [today] are fought out under the guise of culture. If progressives are unable to express their position in a language that resonates with these new debates, then their arguments will go unheard.

The progressives’ surrender of collective identity politics has left the field wide open for right-wing populists.

Tactical arguments are by no means the only ones in favour of a progressive concept of [national] identity. The heart of social democracy, the community of solidarity, is ineffective without a framework of identity.

If it’s unclear who belongs to the community and who doesn’t, it also remains unclear who should share something with whom. That’s a central dilemma of all progressive projects: redistribution is more effective between members of smaller, mutually supportive communities.

Any attempt to construct a progressive sense of identity will inevitably face difficulties. Emotionally charged terms such as nation, patriotism and Leitkultur have no currency in the libertarian part of the social democratic sphere.

Yet anaemic concepts such as constitutional patriotism fail to meet human needs for belonging, pride, self-respect, honour, stability and security. [This needs to] be combined with the vibrant culture of local traditions.