Joseph Grim Feinberg

While nationalism has been the subject of extensive research, scholarship on internationalism has lagged behind. And while related concepts like cosmopolitanism and universalism have garnered significant attention, internationalism has more rarely been taken up as an object of research. I propose a book project that will combine theoretical reflection with historical reconstruction, in order to rethink universalism, by looking back at historical debates about internationalism in the multiethnic border regions of Central and Eastern Europe. What I call “borderlands internationalism” emerged there at a moment when the region’s empires were struggling to control their diverse populations, while social movements were radically reimagining the future, seeking a universalism for uncertain times—an idea and practice that could articulate excluded and underrepresented forms of cultural particularity. Today, in once-again uncertain times, a critical analysis of the historical idea of internationalism can inform new attempts to conceptualize the universal.

Website address: https://mcf.flu.cas.cz/en/people/members-of-department/joseph-grim-feinberg