Abstract
Autore:
Schmitt Nicolas
Titolo:
"Nationalism and Cosmopolitanism as Essence of Federalism. The Swiss Example "
Switzerland is famous for being a peaceful and wealthy multicultural and multiethnic country whose citizens speak several languages, practice different religions and live in numerous cantons. But beyond all these very classical cleavages, if we have a closer look at the Swiss history from its early beginning, even at the time of Julius Caesar, we discover that there is another antagonism which has played a fundamental role in shaping the country: while a part of its population is deeply enrooted in its remote alpine valleys (the “nationalist” dimension), another part has created links with the whole world (the cosmopolitan part).
These two elements have combined for centuries, and when modern Switzerland has been created as a federal state in 1848 after a civil war which precisely opposed isolationist and opened cantons, federalism allowed for the preservation of these two sensibilities. The combination of both openness and isolation proved efficient, as the first has brought a certain wealth to the country, while the second has brought a certain patriotism and identity. Nevertheless, the too numerous differences between cantons have never allowed for the creation of a global Swiss nationalism.
Tensions between opening and isolation have reached a peak on the occasion of the vote about joining the European Economic Area (EEA). This referendum proved that the opposition between nationalism and cosmopolitanism surpasses all other cleavages in Switzerland to become the most powerful opposition – even if less considered – in the dialectic dimension of federalism.
