Methodological Nationalism as a form of Ideology Critique?

In recent years, political theorists have turned their attention to how criticisms of methodological nationalism from the social sciences bear on normative theory, especially around questions of migration and justice. Attention to methodological nationalism has been fruitful, revealing ways in which state-centered thinking has shaped central questions in the political theory of migration and buttressed questionable assumptions about membership, culture, economic distribution, and political power. It has led to a welcome reflection on the moral issues raised by transnational migration and internal migration and encouraged normative reflection on how cities, regional and global organizations, and private corporations shape migration. Furthermore, it has encouraged political theorists to reflect on the role of Eurocentrism in their theorizing and to take seriously the legacies of colonialism and empire. Despite these welcome developments, what the critique of methodological nationalism involves and how it impacts political theory has not been fully clarified or resolved. Since the critique of methodological nationalism emerged from various disciplines in the social sciences, there are multiple often overlapping, but sometimes competing accounts of what methodological nationalism is. Analytic and conceptual work is still needed to construct a complete, coherent account. We propose bringing the literature of ideology critique together with the literature on methodological nationalism to help construct a more coherent and complete picture of methodological nationalism. Methodological nationalism is fruitfully considered as a crucial part of broader ideology critique of nation-statism. This allows us to draw on conceptual tools in ideology analysis, including its orientation toward practical action: theorists engaged in ideology critique seek to understand and evaluate the structure of ideas, but they also see their critique as a crucial step in changing the world. Analyzing methodological nationalism as an ideology thus helps buttress criticisms of how nation-statism has contributed to migration injustice.