The Transformations of the Nation State As Challenges to Sociological Theory

The great changes the world experiences in recent decades have had profound consequences for nation states. Yet, the impact of such changes has been under theorized. This theoretical deficit makes it difficult for us to contemplate the prospects of the historical fusion between national solidarity and state authority.  Relevant as the criticisms directed to methodological nationalism were, their further implications remain poorly explored, giving margin to misplaced assessments of the future of the nation caught between the global and the local.
In the paper I discuss two issues that bear a direct impact on the changed ways we conceive of the nation-state today:  (a) the emergence of the idea of civil society itself as a third element, that together with  market interests and state authority constitutes a third ideal type of societal resource organization; and (b) the idea that the presumed equality of the citizens of a nation-state can be compatible with the recognition of social differences. I argue that sociological theory must take into account the two aforementioned cultural-ideological changes to be able to provide sound guidance to empirical research on the future of the nation. I conclude with the argument that contributing to account for the cultural ideological changes in the way society sees the interactions between authority, interest and solidarity today, sociological theory will also contribute to a better understanding of the prospects nation-states confront.