postnational

Postnational refers to a mode of social and political life in which globalization, transnational institutions, and cross-border networks reduce the centrality of the nation-state in organizing politics, economy, and culture. In a postnational framework, rights and obligations can extend beyond national borders through international law, supranational bodies, and cosmopolitan norms, while identities become more transnational or hybrid.

The term is associated with late‑20th‑ and early‑21st‑century debates on globalization and European integration. The phrase “postnational constellation” was used by Jürgen Habermas to describe a political order in which sovereignty is reorganized around transnational legal and political frameworks rather than exclusively around nation-states; citizenship and political participation increasingly cross borders, though not uniformly.

Key features include the expansion of the European Union's legal order, international human rights regimes, cross-border civil society networks, and migration regimes that bestow rights beyond passport nationality. Postnational processes typically operate alongside national institutions, producing a mixed order in which some rights are universal while others remain anchored in state sovereignty.

Critics contend that postnational arrangements can erode democratic accountability by concentrating power in supranational or technocratic institutions and diminishing popular sovereignty. They also warn of identity tensions and unequal influence within global governance. Proponents argue that postnational governance enables more effective cooperation on transborder challenges such as climate change, security, and human rights.