A critical assessment of Habermas’s vision of political integration of Europe and prospects of transnational social justice
A critical assessment of Habermas’s vision of political integration of Europe and prospects of transnational social justice

Summary/Abstract: This study seeks to contribute to an underexplored area of research: Habermas’s vision of the EU’s political integration, in relation to his discourse ethics, communicative norms, and public sphere, as a means of providing social justice and fostering transnational solidarity across the EU. It aims to assess the applicability of Habermas’s theoretical framework to his vision of the EU’s political integration in the face of challenges posed by global markets and the continuing influence of nationalism. It also examines the limitations of his theories of deliberative democracy, discourse ethics, and the public sphere amid the challenges posed by power dynamics, capitalism, and nationalism. It investigates the impact of the interplay between capitalism and nationalism on ethnic multiplicities, influence structures, and societal pathologies. It evaluates Habermas’s aspiration to construct transnational cohesiveness amid adamant, strong nationalist consciousness. It analyzes Habermas’s communicative action (a cornerstone of his deliberative democracy) and its requisites from the perspective of Foucault’s philosophy of power, and indicates that Habermas’s vision does not adequately address threats to communicative norms. Thus, Habermas’s theoretical framework does not seem to provide a fitting response to the practical challenges posed to the vision of transnational political integration.

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