Nationalism is defined in the IDA e.V. glossary as follows:
“Firstly, national belonging and the subjective sense of belonging are used to formulate political, legal, and social claims that are denied to non-belongers. Secondly, all nationalisms must define who belongs to the nation and who does not. This determination is made along definition criteria such as ‘culture’, ‘history’, ‘descent’, or ‘race’. As a result, the entire humanity is divided into peoples or nations that are regarded as collective actors of politics and history…” 308
From a woke perspective, the division of the world into nations is to be overcome; the entire humanity is to serve as the primary political framework. Nation states are considered outdated constructions based on an othering of foreigners through arbitrary exclusion. National identities are considered discriminatory because they inevitably distinguish between citizens and foreigners (see Rights). The principle of nation-state citizenship is considered a problematic construction that is to be overcome through a commitment to global citizenship, diversity, and the post-migrant society. Initiatives that want to maintain a capable nation state with national sovereignty are framed as right-wing extremist, nationalist, or racist. As advocates of unlimited immigration, woke activists are convinced that solidarity can only be legitimate towards more marginalised persons, to whom the native Western population does not belong. Above all, Western states should not only represent the interests of those who share their own language, descent, and culture. A restrictive immigration policy is considered a human rights-violating taboo breach (see Asylum). Some postcolonial activists explicitly demand that Western people give up their privileges towards people from the so-called “Global South” by advocating for a world without borders.309 But it is not only with regard to the migration issue that the nation state is questioned.
National interests are also considered obstructive in solving global problems such as racism, poverty, disease, or climate change.310 Instead, “global citizens” are to advance initiatives such as the UN Agenda for sustainable development.311 National sovereignty is to be dismantled by hollowing it out in favour of transnational and international institutions (often with the technical term “global governance”). As a goal, all nation states are to be controlled by transnational organisations (especially through the UN).312