Introduction: statehood beyond the state?

From a Western perspective, the presence of the state as the dominant actor that sets or at least influences the setting of standards is often taken for granted – despite the recent shift to non-state actors in processes of standard setting addressed in this book. However, if one looks beyond the familiar realm of states that follow more or less the Westphalian model, it becomes apparent that in many regions, the state actually never had the authority that it seems to lose today in other parts of the world. In some cases, entire countries fall under this category. Somalia and a few other, mainly African countries are probably the best known examples. In other cases, it is a certain area within a country where the state has always been a somewhat ephemeral phenomenon. Such areas exist in many countries outside what is usually called the North. For instance, the outlying northern parts of the Sahelian countries have never been fully controlled by the colonial powers nor by the post-colonial state. These areas, however, are not characterised by a power vacuum; on the contrary, the long struggles for domination have led to a particular situation that is often characterised as ‘precarious statehood’ or as ‘para-statehood’, replacing the blunt and undifferentiated notion of the ‘failed’ or ‘collapsed states’.