The Problematic of Rebuilding the State in Libya after 2011: The Dialectic of Nation and State
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.65405/prbb4z73Keywords:
State-rebuilding; nation-building; stateness ; colonial borders; Libya after 2011.Abstract
The problematic of rebuilding the Libyan state after 2011 lies at the intersection of two central debates in comparative political science: the sequencing debate between 'nationness' and 'stateness' (whether a unified national identity community must precede the establishment of a coercive institutional apparatus, or vice-versa), and the classificatory debate between the homogenizing 'nation-state' model and the pluralistic 'state-nation' model. This study examines these dynamics in post-2011 Libya as a case representative of post-colonial states in its cross-border ethnic, regional, and tribal diversity, employing a case-study design and a historical-comparative method drawing on recent and contemporary specialized literature. The study's theoretical framework argues that Libya does not fit the classical homogenizing 'nation-state' template, but rather represents an emergent 'state-nation' whose institutional conditions remain unfulfilled. The study concludes that while the social components of a Libyan nation have been partially present in the shared memory of anti-colonial struggle and the monarchical founding era, they have remained latent. Successive elites have historically instrumentalized sub-national loyalties (tribalism and regionalism) rather than investing in a unified citizenship framework, thereby generating structural sovereign and legitimacy crises that halt state-building in the post-2011 era.
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