Daniele Archibugi has campaigned for more than fifteen years in favor of globalized democratization, or democratized globalization. Refractory to the dogma of sovereignty, he relies on constitutionalism, halfway of so-called realistic policies and utopias, and takes seriously the hypothesis of a global parliament. A stimulating test.
The translation of an article, in small book format, is rather rare in our regions. We must salute this company for at least two reasons: while it allows the French public to familiarize themselves with the views of an authorly known author, it fuels the Moulin au grain still too rare of publications within France on the theme of cosmopolitanism. In this article, initially published in 2004 in European Journal of International Relations (vol. 10/3), Daniele Archibugi summarizes the main lines of the effort made about fifteen years, especially in the company of David Held, in order to “ globalizing democracy “And” democratizing globalization ». He takes the opportunity to respond to some objections.
It is a question of extending the real jurisdiction of the democratic effort of contemporary societies. Daniele Archibugi is based first on a double observation. On the one hand, the fall of the Berlin Wall did not contribute as much as it could have hoped to expand the institutional gaze (the International Criminal Court is a unique example of cosmopolitical institution, which does not prevent international law from being regularly violated). On the other hand, the political process in which our modern societies is initiated is that of an acquisition of new rights (for minorities, immigrants, or even future generations) that most of the democratic national states are trying to endorse. But the desire to rebatter the cards of the political game within each state, in the sense of a much more sensitive and less formal democracy, is not enough to democratize the rules which preside over the other game of international scope this time. The use of armed force is one of the arguments targeted by the author. In order for the foreign policy of governments to be the object of harsh criticisms on the part of its majorities represented and that it can on the contrary sport a civilized face, it is therefore necessary to admit a series of postulates which, taken to the letter, would initiate structural reforms: 1. Globalization reduces the power of each national democracy ; 2. Some questions concern several states at the same time ; 3. It is not easy for the individual, who wishes to nourish his feeling of belonging to a planetary community more and more to identify with the institutions that hold the monopoly of legitimate violence (in the sense of a max Weber) ; 4. It is advisable to rebalance the weight of states within the United Nations Assembly ; 5. The rule of the “ antagonism “, Mainly military, must give way to that of” agonism “Jurisdictional skills on specific cases in interventionism (the author seeks here to prevent the catastrophic scenario of the Iraq war) to happen again.
The spirit of cosmopolitical democracy will thus be able to become a reality only if we apply the “ governance “Which corresponds to him” At all ladder “(Local, regional, state, interstate and global). This requires going beyond the “ dogma “Sovereignty by replacing him the idea of” constitutionalism “, Whose advantage would be to manage to organize the” vertical dispersion of sovereignty (A point already discussed by Thomas Pogge). But it also requires breaking with the presuppositions of “ realistic “(Force and interest are the only motors in political action), without reconnecting with the approach” Marxist Who represents an international democracy only on the condition of having another economic system. Daniele Archibugi also does not defend the thesis of a world government, since it campaigns on the contrary for reinforced cooperation of governments with meta-government institutions. Rather, he proposes to consider the hypothesis of a “ global parliament “And to consider cosmopolitical democracy as a” Third level of governance “Which would increase the active participation of citizens by offering” ways of direct representation of all peoples worldwide, whatever their social status ».
By closing this very stimulating little essay, I would allow myself two brief remarks to which I give the form of open questions: 1. would not be necessary to report the desire that citizens show to participate in the deployment of a planetary democratic activity in the variety of national or international objects and contexts ? Such a trend would indeed be confirmed in opinion surveys on ecological risks, but it may unfortunately be reversed, depending on the country, as we come to debate social protection systems or migratory flows ; 2. How much the will to “ democratizing globalization “And” globalizing democracy »She also grants exactly to the dilemma of detachment and attachment ? Because if the detachment with regard to the local is the sine qua non condition of a vision of international justice, its abstraction does not appeal to all citizens, and if the attachment to what is close is often required by the natural organization of daily lives, it does not always touch the heart of politics. In what sense, obviously necessary transformation of institutions in the horizon of a transnational political community will protect the individual from the danger of indifference or reactive withdrawal on domestic values ? In order not to dodge this difficulty, we were able to evoke a “ Vernacular cosmopolitanism “(Pnina Werbner) and a” Cosmopolitanism rooted (Kwame A. Appiah), the main thing being to characterize the multi-central universe of diasporas in general or that of migrant elites from post-colonial societies. Without ignoring it, Daniele Archibugi prefers to advance the idea of a “ democratic political dimension, which is at the same time meta-venacular ». It is perhaps there that he claims in the end his parentage with a normative heritage of more classically French lights.