Striking a balance between the political authority of the EU member states and the competences of... more Striking a balance between the political authority of the EU member states and the competences of an enlarged 'post-national' European Union (EU), the Treaty of Lisbon (ToL) has emphasized both aspects. On the one hand, it introduces a number of flexible institutional mechanisms to allow for more effectively integrated internal and external policies. On the other hand, as its conclusion states, it represents a manifestation of the sovereign will of EU members, freely expressed, and thus satisfies the desire for sovereignty of the member states . Drawing on this assumption, this paper explores the linkages between the issue of (post) national sovereignty and the prospects for the effectiveness of the European Union Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) after the ToL. In this context, I argue that in understanding the sovereignty balance (or rather the tension) within the legal and political structure of the EU, we can make plausible predictions as to the future of its foreign policy.
Игор Јованоски студирал политичка и општествена теорија и меѓународни односи во Скопје, Ница & Бе... more Игор Јованоски студирал политичка и општествена теорија и меѓународни односи во Скопје, Ница & Берлин и Бремен. Бил докторант на фондацијата Волксваген и на Иницијатива за исклучителност во образованието на Федералната влада на Сојузна Република Германија. Предавал на Универзитетот во Бремен, Универзитетот Американ колеџ Скопје, Југоисточниот Европски Универзитет и Институот за Општествени науки и Хуманистика. Од јули 2016 е истражувач на Универзитетот Окленд, Нов Зеланд. Трудот на Ернесто Лакло е парадигматски за постмарксистичката левица денес. 1 Неговиот концепт за "популистичкиот ум" е особено влијателен. 2 Залагајќи се за воспоставување на пост-идеолошки сојузи засновани на идејата за популизмот тој го впрегнува последниов во корист на радикaлните демократски политики на дваесет и првиот век. Последниве години токму артикулацијата на овој тип на, во основа, пост-модерни, идентитетски политики 1
As Kaldor’s and Vejvoda’s study on the condition of East-European democracies pointed out, there ... more As Kaldor’s and Vejvoda’s study on the condition of East-European democracies pointed out, there is a distinction between formal and substantial democracy. The former is the formal set of rules, procedures and institutions, the latter a condition of society characterized by tendency towards equality. In this line, Macedonia is a typical post-communist society. In the past 25 years, formal rules not necessarily translated into egalitarian democracy. Moreover, the country political, cultural and socio-economic pluralism was unmatched with equal and substantial democratic management and rights. Exclusion on the basis of political conviction, ethnicity, gender or sex was present in everyday politics. In other words, contrary to the multidimensional diversity of the country – a vast record of rights, both individual and collective, has been unprotected or openly discriminated. As result of this, social cohesion also suffered. The society was continually marred with individual and group unrest reflecting the policies of exclusion and marginalization.
Ernesto Laclau's work has become paradigmatic for the post-Marxist left today.2 In particular, hi... more Ernesto Laclau's work has become paradigmatic for the post-Marxist left today.2 In particular, his concept of " populist reason " is very prominent.3 It advocates the establishment of post-ideological alliances based on the notion of populism, harnessing the latter for the sake of 21st century radical democratic politics. And obviously, this type of post-modern, identitarian endeavour took some practical shape in Southern Europe. Drawing on Laclau, as well known, and abandoning the old Marxist categories of class struggle, the left-wing coalitions of Syriza in Greece and Podemos in Spain did prove successful in mobilizing wider and politically inconsistent societal strata. They are now either ruling parties in their respective countries or take significant chunk of voters' ballots. Despite the political success, however, they also proved fragile in ideological and organisational terms and particularly vulnerable to the post-electoral demands of the global capital. Further in the south, in the Balkans in particular, Laclau's political translation was even less certain. Bypassed by the external, global capital flows but internally prone to cultural and political authoritarianism they seemed unfit to fully embrace left-wing populist politics. What is more, placed in this structural setting, the " populist reason " turned also into a potent tool for its right-wing authoritarian counterparts. In this essay I attempt to analyze the political fruitfulness of Laclau's ideas exactly in the peculiarity of the Balkans' political and cultural context. Rather than a critical engagement with his thought I simply search for its practical-political implications in this setting. I argue that the illiberal political societies in the Balkans (and elsewhere), are historically fertile grounds for breeding rightwing populisms, and thus antithetical to Laclauian type of leftwing egalitarian populist politics.
Sovereignty is the central institution of political modernity and of supreme, generative importan... more Sovereignty is the central institution of political modernity and of supreme, generative importance for the political world we live in. Today, thanks to the "linguistic and sociological turns" in social sciences as well as the changeable ontology of the post 1991 world order, it has come under thorough academic scrutiny and reassessment. The notion of "supreme authority" or "ultimate power," as relatively stable and, until recently, uncontroversial cornerstone of modern politics, is a vigorously deliberated phenomenon (Onuf 425). Notably, what we currently experience as the "sovereignty discourse" tells much about the theoretical understanding and practical condition of politics. It also presupposes its shape in the years to come. In this essay I want to examine the contours of the actual debate on sovereignty. To do this I mainly use the philosophical lenses of the leading International Relations [IR] theories; the traditional i.e the rationalist one and the critical-sociological, that is, the constructivist one. My intentions are 1) to review and compare their theoretical fundaments; 2) analyse their epistemological views over the nature of sovereignty institution and its role in international politics; and, 3) offer some provisional inferences as to cognitive possibilities in the study of sovereignty.
Абстракт: Последниве 20 години сведоци сме на буквална 'експлозија' на академскиот интерес кон ко... more Абстракт: Последниве 20 години сведоци сме на буквална 'експлозија' на академскиот интерес кон концептот на суверенитет во политичката, правната и меѓународната теорија. Благодарение на променливата онтологија на меѓународниот поредок после 1991 година одржливоста на идејата за 'апсолутен авторитет' внатре, но и надвор, е постојана топ тема во академските и политичките кругови. Забележително, она што денес го доживуваме како 'дискурс за суверенитетот' има многу да каже за теоретското разбирање но и за практичната поставеност на политиката воопшто. Од една страна, дискурсот ја рефлектира но и ја обликува историската текстура на политиката и ги подвлекува тековните трендови во политичката организација. Од друга страна, тој ја антиципра нејзината форма во годините што следат. Есенцијалноста на истата е несомнена и, како што оваа статија се обидува да прикаже, од нејзиното разбирање и интерпретација ќе зависи и разбирањето на природата на меѓународните односи во годините што следат.
Striking a balance between the political authority of the EU member states and the competences of... more Striking a balance between the political authority of the EU member states and the competences of an enlarged 'post-national' European Union (EU), the Treaty of Lisbon (ToL) has emphasized both aspects. On the one hand, it introduces a number of flexible institutional mechanisms to allow for more effectively integrated internal and external policies. On the other hand, as its conclusion states, it represents a manifestation of the sovereign will of EU members, freely expressed, and thus satisfies the desire for sovereignty of the member states . Drawing on this assumption, this paper explores the linkages between the issue of (post) national sovereignty and the prospects for the effectiveness of the European Union Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) after the ToL. In this context, I argue that in understanding the sovereignty balance (or rather the tension) within the legal and political structure of the EU, we can make plausible predictions as to the future of its foreign policy.
Игор Јованоски студирал политичка и општествена теорија и меѓународни односи во Скопје, Ница & Бе... more Игор Јованоски студирал политичка и општествена теорија и меѓународни односи во Скопје, Ница & Берлин и Бремен. Бил докторант на фондацијата Волксваген и на Иницијатива за исклучителност во образованието на Федералната влада на Сојузна Република Германија. Предавал на Универзитетот во Бремен, Универзитетот Американ колеџ Скопје, Југоисточниот Европски Универзитет и Институот за Општествени науки и Хуманистика. Од јули 2016 е истражувач на Универзитетот Окленд, Нов Зеланд. Трудот на Ернесто Лакло е парадигматски за постмарксистичката левица денес. 1 Неговиот концепт за "популистичкиот ум" е особено влијателен. 2 Залагајќи се за воспоставување на пост-идеолошки сојузи засновани на идејата за популизмот тој го впрегнува последниов во корист на радикaлните демократски политики на дваесет и првиот век. Последниве години токму артикулацијата на овој тип на, во основа, пост-модерни, идентитетски политики 1
As Kaldor’s and Vejvoda’s study on the condition of East-European democracies pointed out, there ... more As Kaldor’s and Vejvoda’s study on the condition of East-European democracies pointed out, there is a distinction between formal and substantial democracy. The former is the formal set of rules, procedures and institutions, the latter a condition of society characterized by tendency towards equality. In this line, Macedonia is a typical post-communist society. In the past 25 years, formal rules not necessarily translated into egalitarian democracy. Moreover, the country political, cultural and socio-economic pluralism was unmatched with equal and substantial democratic management and rights. Exclusion on the basis of political conviction, ethnicity, gender or sex was present in everyday politics. In other words, contrary to the multidimensional diversity of the country – a vast record of rights, both individual and collective, has been unprotected or openly discriminated. As result of this, social cohesion also suffered. The society was continually marred with individual and group unrest reflecting the policies of exclusion and marginalization.
Ernesto Laclau's work has become paradigmatic for the post-Marxist left today.2 In particular, hi... more Ernesto Laclau's work has become paradigmatic for the post-Marxist left today.2 In particular, his concept of " populist reason " is very prominent.3 It advocates the establishment of post-ideological alliances based on the notion of populism, harnessing the latter for the sake of 21st century radical democratic politics. And obviously, this type of post-modern, identitarian endeavour took some practical shape in Southern Europe. Drawing on Laclau, as well known, and abandoning the old Marxist categories of class struggle, the left-wing coalitions of Syriza in Greece and Podemos in Spain did prove successful in mobilizing wider and politically inconsistent societal strata. They are now either ruling parties in their respective countries or take significant chunk of voters' ballots. Despite the political success, however, they also proved fragile in ideological and organisational terms and particularly vulnerable to the post-electoral demands of the global capital. Further in the south, in the Balkans in particular, Laclau's political translation was even less certain. Bypassed by the external, global capital flows but internally prone to cultural and political authoritarianism they seemed unfit to fully embrace left-wing populist politics. What is more, placed in this structural setting, the " populist reason " turned also into a potent tool for its right-wing authoritarian counterparts. In this essay I attempt to analyze the political fruitfulness of Laclau's ideas exactly in the peculiarity of the Balkans' political and cultural context. Rather than a critical engagement with his thought I simply search for its practical-political implications in this setting. I argue that the illiberal political societies in the Balkans (and elsewhere), are historically fertile grounds for breeding rightwing populisms, and thus antithetical to Laclauian type of leftwing egalitarian populist politics.
Sovereignty is the central institution of political modernity and of supreme, generative importan... more Sovereignty is the central institution of political modernity and of supreme, generative importance for the political world we live in. Today, thanks to the "linguistic and sociological turns" in social sciences as well as the changeable ontology of the post 1991 world order, it has come under thorough academic scrutiny and reassessment. The notion of "supreme authority" or "ultimate power," as relatively stable and, until recently, uncontroversial cornerstone of modern politics, is a vigorously deliberated phenomenon (Onuf 425). Notably, what we currently experience as the "sovereignty discourse" tells much about the theoretical understanding and practical condition of politics. It also presupposes its shape in the years to come. In this essay I want to examine the contours of the actual debate on sovereignty. To do this I mainly use the philosophical lenses of the leading International Relations [IR] theories; the traditional i.e the rationalist one and the critical-sociological, that is, the constructivist one. My intentions are 1) to review and compare their theoretical fundaments; 2) analyse their epistemological views over the nature of sovereignty institution and its role in international politics; and, 3) offer some provisional inferences as to cognitive possibilities in the study of sovereignty.
Абстракт: Последниве 20 години сведоци сме на буквална 'експлозија' на академскиот интерес кон ко... more Абстракт: Последниве 20 години сведоци сме на буквална 'експлозија' на академскиот интерес кон концептот на суверенитет во политичката, правната и меѓународната теорија. Благодарение на променливата онтологија на меѓународниот поредок после 1991 година одржливоста на идејата за 'апсолутен авторитет' внатре, но и надвор, е постојана топ тема во академските и политичките кругови. Забележително, она што денес го доживуваме како 'дискурс за суверенитетот' има многу да каже за теоретското разбирање но и за практичната поставеност на политиката воопшто. Од една страна, дискурсот ја рефлектира но и ја обликува историската текстура на политиката и ги подвлекува тековните трендови во политичката организација. Од друга страна, тој ја антиципра нејзината форма во годините што следат. Есенцијалноста на истата е несомнена и, како што оваа статија се обидува да прикаже, од нејзиното разбирање и интерпретација ќе зависи и разбирањето на природата на меѓународните односи во годините што следат.
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