Introduction
transcending Europe
pp. 1-9
in: Susanna Lindberg, Mika Ojakangas, Sergei Prozorov (eds), Europe beyond universalism and particularism, Berlin, Springer, 2014Abstract
In 20th-century political theory, the problem of political community was articulated in terms of the dichotomy between universalism and particularism. In both domestic and international politics, universal values, be they human rights, international law, or global capitalism, were pitted against particular values held by sovereign states, civilizations, or cultural communities. The aspirations for a universal polity, be they defined in the liberal terms of human freedom or the socialist terms of global equality, were repeatedly defeated by the resurgence of particularistic politics that challenged the universal principles as inapplicable, heterogeneous, or outright alien to particular cultural values held by the community in question. Moreover, these challenges rarely failed to demonstrate that the values presented as universal are in fact also particular, arising out of the identities and interests of, for example, white middle-class males, Western states, or international corporations.