Global internationalism: An introduction

ABSTRACT

Internationalism is a very broad concept that can have several meanings and has a long history. Two conceptions of internationalism can be distinguished, a strong and a weak one. There are different types and forms of international solidarity. It can be understood as part of a politicization process in which identities are built and reconfigured as a result of political struggle and combines altruistic motives and mutual interest. International solidarity can be associated with the concept of translation used among other author by Gramsci. This special issue of Labor History aims to discuss internationalism, with a special emphasis on labor internationalism, blending historical and present-day analysis. ‘Internationalism’ is not a term commonly used in contemporary political discussion. As a virtue, it has a strong political and strategic meaning and internationalism, transnationalism and also terms such as global justice or global solidarity should not necessarily be considered as mutually exclusive.

KEYWORDS:

• Internationalism
• transnationalism
• solidarity
• labour
• globalization

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. All translations from non English sources are mine.

2. As I have pointed out in Antentas 2018 and 2019 the problem is not so much the term ‘cosmopolitanism’ but its abstract conception of it. On internationalism and cosmopolitanism see also: Achcar, 2013.

3. Although made from what I have called a ‘weak internationalism’ perspective, Lordon’s (2016a; 2016b) accurate criticisms of the wait for the Grand Internationalist Coordination, regarding the Greek crisis in 2015, can be adapted to a ‘strong internationalism’ perspective.

4. There are many ways of analyzing this question theoretically and strategically. One of the ones I find stimulating, and which follows unconventional theoretical paths, is that of Marranism, explored by authors such as Derrida (1993) or Bensaïd (2001). The latter’s ‘Marrano internationalism’ seeks to think strategically about otherness and identity through an imaginary Marranism. See: Antentas, 2022. I develop in more detail a critical discussion with the reductionist and identitarian conceptions of the working class that have proliferated in recent years in European debates in: Antentas, 2019.

5. Besides the reference to the Further Selections from Prison Notebooks (1995) following the established international criteria, I give the number of the notebook (Q) and the number of the note (§) of Gramsci’s quotation.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Josep Maria Antentas

Josep Maria Antentas is sociologist based in Barcelona specialized in labour and social movements. He has written and researched on labour and globalization, the global justice movement, and protests against austerity and political crisis in Spain. He is author of Espectros the Octubre (2018) and co-author of Planeta indignado (2012) and Resistencias Globales (2009).