The Passage West: Philosophy After the Age of the Nation State

In this ambitious work, Giacomo Marramao proposes a radical reconceptualization of the world system in our era of declining state sovereignty. He argues that globalization cannot be reduced to mere economics or summarized by phrases such as the end of history or the westernization of the world. Instead, we find ourselves embarking on a passage to a new, postnation state age destined to transform all civilizations and to disrupt Western geopolitical dominance. To confront the challenges of this interregnum one must think in terms of a new and radical universalism, a universalism of difference able to revitalize politics and to demythologize identity.Building on the great interwar discussion between Spengler, Junger, Schmitt and Heidegger, Marramaos new work engages with Habermas, Derrida and postcolonialism. Arguing against the classic Western pretension to universal norms of democracy and reason, he develops instead the idea of a universal politics of difference.