ALTHOUGH THE MIDDLE Ages are long gone, the memory of the Middle Ages is still used by academics and politicians. Some academics use their interpretation of the Middle Ages to theorize about the current social and spatial order. Initially the Middle Ages were used as the Dark Ages from which man has liberated himself. In particular, modernization theory regarded the Middle Ages as the archetype of the unchanging traditional society from which man has struggled to free himself. After the liberation from these traditional shackles human development could “take-off” and progress through the different stages of modernization. This linear development model of the modernization theory was popular after the Second World War, but was challenged by the current period of economic and political problems which started at the end of the twentieth century.

This chapter starts by discussing some aspects of these economic and political crises which challenge the nation-state. Attention then moves to the ideas of Immanuel Wallerstein and Saskia Sassen, who use the Middle Ages to better understand the current transformations of the societal and spatial order. We then focus on how the legitimation of the political order centred on the nation-state is challenged through the undermining of national identities due to globalization and individualization. We end this chapter by discussing how new spatial identities are stabilized through positioning them between the future and the past. This shows how the memory of the Middle Ages is used to strengthen the legitimation of the political systems in these globalising and individualising times.

The Current Crisis of the Nation-State in the Mirror of the Middle Ages

Since the 1970s, increased global competitive pressures have eroded the centralized welfare state. Neo-liberal solutions were introduced to deregulate the economy and improve the competitiveness of companies on the world market. Decentralization of political power was one instrument used to confront the challenges of globalization. The transfer of social and economic responsibilities reduced the financial and regulatory burdens on the central state. The regional level was also assumed to be better suited to provide companies with tailor-made conditions helping them to compete on the world market.