Sovereignism as a Global Phenomenon? A Comparative Perspective Across Regions

The point of departure of this proposed workshop is the recent and increasingly frequent use of sovereignist claims, not only by nationalist or populist leaders but also by actors who would not normally fall into these categories. So far, the phenomenon of sovereignism remains under-investigated, not least because theory and concept building are still lacking. With the goal of filling a gap in the literature, we aim to identify differences and similarities in outcomes and intensity across different political systems and regions. We also aim to reach an innovative approach as to how to capture the diffuse phenomenon of sovereignism by breaking down the concept into different dimensions. This approach should enable to operationalise sovereignism according to its multi-dimensional nature, and thus to get a better understanding of who uses sovereignist strategies and frames, in what context and with what goals. We delineate sovereignism as a recent and distinct phenomenon that emerged in the very context of globalisation and Europeanisation, presumably as an (over)reaction to the perceived negative consequences of both. Hence, the core of the concept of sovereignism reflects the wish to ‘take back control’ of politicians as well as citizens, with renewed emphasis on the state level. In particular, we focus on two major political challenges that have been introduced by sovereignism: (a) the impact on parties and political leaders; (b) the impact on citizens. We are interested in a broad and cross-regional sample reflecting the European perspective as well as other cases (e.g. North and Latin America). Our first research interest is to clarify to which political actors sovereignist strategies and preferences can be attributed. Second, our interest is to track with accuracy the main determinants behind the spread of sovereignism within different political systems. In this respect, we are particularly interested in works that analyse the driving factors behind the spread of sovereignism within society in terms of relations between demand and political supply.