What is the Empire if not the accumulation and assimilation of cultural distinctions coalescing to form a unitary whole? Hardt and Negri hold that the Empire is a manifestation of the globalization process. Geographical boundaries become irrelevant in the power quest of the corporation and international governance alike. Capitalism is imbedded or sought after by all nations-states. Adept countries relinquish their ‘nationness’ for a capitalist statehood. What formerly united people within the confines of distinct geographic borders, nationality, has been blurred and with it cultural traditions are lost. A way of life is lost. People are lost.
As the Dutch author Geert Mak writes in his novel, In Europe, Eastern European nations eagerly await their admission into the European Union without much awareness of the implications this will have on their cultures and societies. Specifically, Mak presents the Hungarian village, Vasarosbec: a village where tradition is as lively as national identity. The Empire of Hardt and Negri and adherence to it, requires immense sacrifices, as Mak explains, some that lead to an economic descent – poverty being a necessary part of the reintegration, as well as to community and personal loss.
“'And what's more, you're going to lose some very precious things: friendship, the ability to get by
without a lot of money, the skills to repair things that are broken, the freedom to raise your own pigs and slaughter them as you see fit, the freedom to burn as much timber as you like... any number of other things.'
‘What?’ they asked him. ‘No more slaughtering our own pigs? No more burning wood?’ They looked at him in disbelief. At that time they did not know that, before long, they wouldn’t be allowed to smoke in the cafe either. ‘The bell-ringer walked out during my story,’ my friend wrote to us. ‘I can hear him ringing the church bell right now, to mark the setting sun. There are some things that go on unchanged’. (Geert Mak, XV)”
A shift in cultural norms and an adventure down the imperial reconstruction of Europe. It makes one wonder why the need for such assimilation? Is there no room for pig cutters and wood burners in this frame? Is this form of continental or global assimilation a necessary component in the creation of global order? Mak also supports that there is a shift from prior held values, and national unities; world order is – just as stated by Hardt and Negri, invisible if ever present at all: “[t]he world order of the twentieth century - insofar as one can speak of 'order' at all - seems to be gone for good. (Geert Mak, XVI)”
A new global order is born indeed, but is the global citizenry approving? Are members of the world community satisfied with a process that requires a loss of self? Is interconnectedness and global unity an enabler of the formation of the global nation, or is it merely widening the gap between the wealthy and poor?
I want to say first that I thoroughly enjoy how you bring up your experiences and knowledge about Europe into our discussions; it is a fresh outlook as compared to always studying topics in relation to Western culture. I also struggled with the dilemma you wrote about. In the quest for capitalism and globalization, it appears as though something critical has been lost in the process - culture. As you mentioned, where nations once were the homes to peoples of similar identities, values and traditions, the incessant need to become "globalized" and blur boundaries is slowly erasing the needed sense of community in our world. On one hand, globalization is promoted as uniting everyone into one large community, but in my opinion, it seems to be doing just the opposite.
ReplyDeleteI find Erin's comment and many of the themes in the above post to be quite prevalent to the formation of Canada's national identity. In our discussion of modernism and the concept of Empire, it seems fitting to first look at what these implications have for our national community before we look to the global. Similar to Cristina’s views of Europe, I know that as diversity increases so too does the spectrum of difference that inhibits Canada from forming an identity that is unique from other nations. Although I agree that it is important for nation states to work together on matters of International concern, I fear that we may lose sight of our national traits –those unique traits that encourage us to proudly announce, “I am Canadian”. Both our fears of modernity as well as our embrace of the ‘ideals’ it can bring have effects on the formation of a national Canadian identity. No matter our nationality, I think it is important for national culture to be preserved. It will be interesting to see how Canada responds to these prevalent concepts and the role our nation will play in this ‘new world order’.
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