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2 - Sovereignty?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 July 2021

J. Samuel Barkin
Affiliation:
University of Massachusetts, Boston
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Summary

Chapter 2 makes the case for looking at state sovereignty as a social construction rather than as a definitional absolute. In other words, it argues that “sovereignty” does not have a specific meaning, defined by law or concept and static over time. Rather, it is a practice, and the content of sovereignty as a practice changes over time. The chapter reviews various ways in which sovereignty is understood in international relations, and the analytical utility and limitations of using the concept in these ways. It discusses the Peace of Westphalia in this context, since “Westphalian sovereignty” is a sufficiently common trope in international relations theory that it cannot be ignored (this discussion reappears in various places throughout the book), and argues that the Peace actually has fairly little to do with the contemporary practice of state soveriegnty. It also briefly discusses methodology, and how understanding sovereignty as a social construct can address questions of both power in and change of sovereignty in ways that conceptualizing sovereignty as a definitional absolute cannot.

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Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

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  • Sovereignty?
  • J. Samuel Barkin, University of Massachusetts, Boston
  • Book: The Sovereignty Cartel
  • Online publication: 23 July 2021
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009003490.002
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  • Sovereignty?
  • J. Samuel Barkin, University of Massachusetts, Boston
  • Book: The Sovereignty Cartel
  • Online publication: 23 July 2021
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009003490.002
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Sovereignty?
  • J. Samuel Barkin, University of Massachusetts, Boston
  • Book: The Sovereignty Cartel
  • Online publication: 23 July 2021
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009003490.002
Available formats
×