Critique (modérée) du souverainisme

Abstract: (Moderate) Criticism of Sovereignism
Sovereignism is undergoing a very understandable resurgence that to a large extent, can be seen as very positive. Still, the very notion of “sovereignism” remains ambiguous and could criticized on some points. Sovereignism, in the first place, is closely linked to the idea of the nation-state, which is now visibly in crisis. The nation-state is associated with modern times as with the Jacobin concept of state), but today it seems obsolete. Some problems can no longer be solved on this scale. Sovereignty, on the other hand, can be conceived in many different ways, for example, according to Jean Bodin it presupposes indivisibility and the omnicompetence of the governing bodies, while, according to Johannes Althusius, it is distributed on several levels based on the principle of subsidiarity. We may also wonder whether sovereignty has the same meaning in very small states and in medium or large ones: does it for both mean indipendence or simply autonomy? Finally, it remains to be shown that it is enough to guarantee collective identity, of which it appears rather as a necessary, but not sufficient, condition.