On Left Internationalism

Abstract

This essay offers reflections on how contemporary left internationalism could think through—and beyond—both “humanity” and “nation” when positioning its struggles. With this aim, it first turns to philosophy and then to history to distinguish unsettled questions that animate dilemmas of left internationalism today. The essay is not, in a straightforward way, an attempt to draw the boundaries, offer the definitions, and determine the strategies of left internationalism. Ultimately, it is an invitation to a partisan “we” who claims sides within humanity and nation. This “we” is an open question and permanent problem of left internationalism.