The Resilience of the Nation State: Cosmopolitanism, Holocaust Memory and German Identity

Welch, Stephen; Wittlinger, Ruth

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to offer a critique of the proposal of “methodological cosmopolitanism“ in theoretical terms and to substantiate this critique by providing an account of the dynamics of collective memory and identity in postunification Germany. In the first part, we look at the arguments about methodological cosmopolitanism and their derivative, the idea of cosmopolitan memory, illustrated by the case of Holocaust memory. In the second part we look at the case of Germany: firstly at its postwar experience of the attempted construction of “postnational“ identity, and then at more recent trends, contemporaneous with the Berlin Republic, towards a “normalization“ of national identity in Germany. The Holocaust plays a crucial, but different, role in each phase, we suggest. In the conclusion we return to more general themes, asking what the German case tells us about the cosmopolitanization thesis more generally.

Citation

Welch, S., & Wittlinger, R. (2011). The Resilience of the Nation State: Cosmopolitanism, Holocaust Memory and German Identity. German Politics and Society, 29(3), 38-54. https://doi.org/10.3167/gps.2011.290303

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Publication Date: Sep 1, 2011
• Deposit Date: Apr 20, 2012
• Publicly Available Date: Sep 7, 2012
• Journal: German Politics and Society
• Print ISSN: 1045-0300
• Electronic ISSN: 1558-5441
• Publisher: Berghahn Journals
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 29
• Issue: 3
• Pages: 38-54
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.3167/gps.2011.290303
• Keywords: Cosmopolitanism, Holocaust memory, German identity, Berlin Republic.
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1500345