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ABSTRACT
Great Britain's vote to exit the Europen Union came as a shock to many scholars of international relations, sociologists, political scientists, and economists. But, first of all, it came as a shock to Britons themselves and to a lot of other European citizens. This article analyzes the main features of one of the most important political events of 2016 through the lens of Hegel's political philosophy, aiming to understand how major political events can shape the future of a society in new, intriguing and potentially positive ways. It also examines how Hegel himself might have interpreted the founding principles of the European Union and, within its political development, Brexit.
Key Words: recognition, political mistake, human rights, sovereignty, alienation
Introduction: Hegel, the European Union and the struggle for recognition
Although it was one of the most surprising and influential political events of 2016, Brexit is only now starting to be understood at its true scale (Webster 2016, 14-30). I intend to assess Brexit through a Hegelian lens, which will prove to be an interesting approach in grasping the underlying causes and possible consequences entailed by Great Britain's exit from the European Union (EU).
The article starts with an introduction to the Hegelian concept of the struggle for recognition. By this logic, Brexit emerges as a consequence of the way in which British society perceives itselfs as being insufficiently recognized (valued) by the EU, and by the desire to obtain new concessions regarding the acquis communautaire. After a short methodological discussion and a brief literature review, the next section discusses the process of Brexit, along with a possible Hegelian interpretation of it on different levels (political, economic and philosophical). Finally, the conclusion synthesizes the whole philosophical endeavour, offers several modest predictions of the impact of Brexit, and outlines some potentially useful avenues for further inquiry.
Let us start with Hegel's opinion regarding European nations, as presented in the Principles of the Philosophy of Right: "European nations constitute, according to the general principle of their legislation, morality, culture, a family, and therefore the international juridical behavior is modified in this sense, even in a situation where reciprocal damage is the rule. The states relation to one another remains uncertain: there is no praetor to settle the...