ABSTRACT
Why are the younger generations of leftists in Europe so comfortable with the abolition of their democratic sovereignty? The first premise of this question is the total absence of democracy in the EU, which was arguably the point of the bloc in the first place. The second premise of the above question is a (Lacan and Schmitt-inspired) rearticulation of the concept of sovereignty, in terms of the decision to decide, which incorporates any possible iteration of the people, up to and including a national people. Brexit is one example here. Possible counter-arguments include the accusation of identitarianism and the impossibility of true sovereignty in conditions of late capitalism. It is argued that the sovereign decision incurs a subjective split which is anti-identitarian through and through, and also that sovereignty – now understood as the indivisibility of powers – is always possible – not to mention necessary – in any truly political process, regardless of the existence or otherwise of capitalism. In the British case, Europeanism put paid to the only possible radical left alternative that has been presented in the last forty years or so. Brexit can still be seen as the basis for any such project that might emerge in the future.
