NoDAPL or The Nation-State is Alive and Well
With the rise in economic globalization, many argue that the power of the nation-state is declining. Wendy Brown makes this argument that nation state sovereignty “has been severely compromised by increasing transnational flows of capital, people, ideas, goods, violence and political religious fealty.” It would seem that the election of Trump and vote in support of Brexit would suggest that the nation-state has made a big comeback. Brown’s essay suggests otherwise. Her essay was written before these big events. However, she thinks the reactionary “close the borders” mentality is not a sign that the nation-state is regaining its strength but more of a symptom of the fact that it has significantly weakened.
From the point of view of Native peoples, however, the nation-state is alive and well since Native peoples are continuing to be colonized the United State nation-state. It is not that Native peoples are not impacted by economic globalization. This reality can be seen in the current struggle against the Dakota Pipeline or (NoDAPL). This pipeline, which would allow oil to be transported from North Dakota to Illinois, is currently being sited next to the Standing Rock Sioux reservation where any break in the pipeline would contaminate the water sources for the tribe. The pipeline was originally supposed to go near a primarily white community in Bismark, but it was rerouted to keep white people safe. Now, NoDAPL is the largest Indigenous movement in recent history to protect the water for not only Native peoples but for everyone.
NoDAPL is organizing against the multinational corporations that are funding this project. However, these companies are backed up federal and state law enforcement. In the past few days, NoDAPL organizers have been attacked in freezing temperature by water cannons, rubber bullets and concussion bombs. These corporations depending upon the repression by nation-states. And just recently, the Army Corps of Engineers has announced that it is going to close down the primary camp of NoDAPL organizers.
The notion that the nation-state is waning makes more sense to people who are not the direct repression of state violence. But for those being subjected to policing, prisons, and other forms of state repression, this analysis does not make much sense. Nation-state sovereignty is not inconsistent with economic globalization. Nation-states provide the military power to enforce the will of corporations. Brown does acknowledge that political violence continues to exist. But what is noteworthy that is that the distinction between the military and police have eroded. It is difficult to separate external from internal enemies. However, before this division can be eroded, it must be assumed that the nation-state has a right to exist at all. Given that the United States is on indigenous lands, it’s own legitimacy should be questioned. Thus this blurring of lines between the police and the military is not actually new but has been part of the United States from the beginning. The reason is that Native peoples represent both the internal and the external enemy. It is not surprising that Native affairs have been governed by both the Department of War and the Department of Interior.
In addition, as the film The Corporation demonstrates, the ability for corporations to exercise so much power was the result of US courts determining that corporations have equal protections as “persons” under the 14th Amendment. Thus, the rise of economic globalization was enabled by the nation-state. This happened hundreds of years ago and is not a recent phenomenon.
In addition, nation-state sovereignty is also alive and well in that it extinguishes any other vision for sovereignty, particularly indigenous sovereignty. People cannot imagine any other form of governance that is not based on a nation-state. They cannot imagine alternatives visions of sovereignty that are based on mutuality, equality and relationality rather than hierarchy, domination, and control. That is why many Native peoples’ movements are declaring: “I am not a Nation-State.” Looking historically, it does not seem that the nation-state is waning. It has always worked together with global capitalism to secure lands and resources for it. It has often failed to intervene and properly regulate corporations because it has always been there to further those interests generally speaking. It is thus important to not minimize the impact of the nation-state but to address its colonial function in order to center a politics of decolonization and anti-capitalism.
