Citation

Schwarzmantel J. Polit. Stud. 2007; 55(2): 459-476.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2007, Political Studies Association of the United Kingdom, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/j.1467-9248.2007.00625.x

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

This article seeks to propose and defend the necessity of political community as a prerequisite for an effective democratic polity. It defends a republican model of political community, involving ideas of active citizenship and interaction across the particular identity groups which proliferate in contemporary liberal-democratic societies. It is argued that ideas of community as communication, derived from the work of the French philosopher Jean-Luc Nancy, and his distinction between ‘being- in-common’ and ‘common being’, can be applied in a more political sense than in his original usage to justify a revised notion of republican solidarity. This more open form of community is used as the basis for expounding a strong concept of civic identity, which is defended against three rival conceptions. The article takes issue with some liberal theorists who assert that political community is neither desirable nor possible under contemporary conditions. It offers reasons to be sceptical of both a ‘civic nationalist’ perspective as well as of ‘post-nationalist’ arguments. The significance of the issue of community is illustrated by examples drawn from the recent riots in France and some analyses of the significance of those events.