Postnationalism

Postnationalism describes the process or trend by which nation states and national identities loose their importance relative to supranational and global entities. Although postnationalism is not strictly the antonym of nationalism, the two terms and their associated assumptions are antithetic.

There are several factors that contribute to aspects of postnationalism, including economic, political, and cultural elements. Increasing globalization of "economic" factors, such as the expansion of international trade with raw materials, manufactured goods, and services, and the importance of multinational corporations and internationalization of financial markets, have shifted emphasis from national economies to global ones. At the same time, political power is partially transfered from national authorities to supernational entities, such as the United Nations, the European Union, the [North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), or NATO. In addition, media and entertainment industries are becoming increasingly global and facilitate the formation of trends and opinions on a supranational scale. Migration of individuals or groups between countries contributes to the formation of postnational identities and beliefs, even though attachment to citizenship and national identities often remains important [R. Koopmans and P. Statham; "Challenging the liberal nation-state? Postnationalism, multiculturalism, and the collective claims making of migrants and ethnic minorities in Britain and Germany"; "American Journal of Sociology" 105:652-696 (1999)] [R.A. Hackenberg and R.R. Alvarez; "Close-ups of postnationalism: Reports from the US-Mexico borderlands"; "Human Organization" 60:97-104 (2001)] [I. Bloemraad; "Who claims dual citizenship? The limits of postnationalism, the possibilities of transnationalism, and the persistence of traditional citizenship"; "International Migration Review" 38:389-426 (2004)] .

In the European Union

The European integration has created a system of supranational entities and is often discussed in relationship to the concept of postnationalism. [M. Rambour; http://erg.politics.ox.ac.uk/materials/national_identity/Rambour_Paper.pdf (2005)] [J. Shaw; "Postnational constitutionalism in the European Union"; "Journal of European Policy" 6:579-597 (1999)] [M. Wilkinson; http://www.germanlawjournal.com/article.php?id=192 (2002)]

In the media

Frost argues that while the internet and online social relations forge social and political bonds across national borders, they do not have "the commitment or cohesiveness needed to underpin a demanding new mode of social and political relations". [C. Frost; "Internet galaxy meets postnational constellation: Prospects for political solidarity after the Internet"; "Information Society" 22:45-49 (2006)]

In sports

Postnational trends have been evident in professional sports. Simon Kuper called the 2008 European soccer championship (UEFA Euro 2008) "the first postnational" European Championship [Simon Kuper; "Steeds Liever"; "Vrij Nederland" p. 24, June 28, 2008 ] . He argues that during the tournament both for players and fans sportmanship and enjoyment of the event were more important than national rivalries or even winning.

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