Individual Freedom in the Age of Globalisation

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The process of globalisation brings to an end the merging of political space (i.e., within which democratic sovereignty is exercised) and economic space (i.e., politically controlled and guided national markets). The prime victim of this process is the modern national State. It is thus vital to reformulate the relationship between individual freedom and non-violent political institutions. If the conception of the State as a "necessary evil" now appears unsustainable, still less so is democratic liberalism’s view of it as a tool for expanding individual and social freedom. If we wish to maintain the right to choose the model of life best suited to the maintaining of individual freedom, we have to relinquish the State as we have known it to date. But we also have to acknowledge the fact that we do not know – neither in practice nor, arguably, in theory – how to replace it.