Cidadania Global e Estado Nacional

The globalization process has weakened national states, which have lost their ability to formulate autonomous national policies and guarantee the classic principles of state sovereignty. Citizens? rights, traditionally linked to the national state, are threatened by the globalization process. In recent decades we have witnessed an extraordinary worldwide growth in organizations from civil society, who are faced with the states? reasons and the interests of transnational corporations in the international sphere. Based on empirical research by the United Nations, the World Bank, and other international agencies, we identify a trend towards the formation of a global civil society, which has been exerting influence on international decisions, thus contributing to the democratization of the world?s political system

Morrer pela pátria? Notas sobre identidade nacional

This article analyses the matter of cultural identities restrained during the formation of the National State. The emphasis on national unity blocked the recognition of cultural diversity. The appeal to die for the homeland is present in almost all Latin American countries’ national anthems. National literature during Romantism enhanced the exuberance of nature and prioritized texts of instrumental use to the formation of National States. In the case of Brazil, where national independence was reached without war, the role of nature was overestimated to the detriment of History and reappears today mixed with the conscience of the need for environmental preservation. This article retrieves the issue of national identity now in the light of globalization and shows how the current weakening of the Nation-State brings about a revival of cultural identities which had been repressed during the development of the National State. The basic structures of the National State created by the Westphalia Treaty in 1648 – territory, sovereignty and autonomy – are collapsing and several global governance arrangements are being established. As a result, the notions of homeland and national identity lose their political dimension and become a purely cultural reference. Keywords: national identity; homeland; death; nature; History; globalizationO presente artigo analisa a questão das identidades culturais sufocadas durante o período de formação do Estado nacional. A ênfase na unidade nacional bloqueou o reconhecimento da diversidade cultural. O apelo a morrer pela pátria aparece em quase todos os hinos nacionais da América Latina. A literatura nacional na época do romantismo exaltava a exuberância da natureza e privilegiava os textos de utilidade instrumental à formação nacional. No caso do Brasil, onde não houve guerra pela independência nacional, o papel da natureza foi sobrevalorizado em detrimento da história e reaparece hoje misturado à consciência ecológica da necessidade de preservação ambiental. O artigo retoma o tema da identidade nacional, agora à luz do processo de globalização, e mostra como o enfraquecimento atual do Estado-nação acarreta o ressurgimento de identidades culturais sufocadas durante o período de formação e consolidação do Estado nacional. A estrutura básica do Estado nacional criada pelo Tratado de Vestfália em 1648 – territorialidade, soberania e autonomia – está desmoronando, e diversos arranjos de governança global estão sendo institucionalizados. Em decorrência, as noções de pátria e identidade nacional perdem sua dimensão política e tornam-se uma referência puramente cultura