Sovereignty and the State in International Relations M1
Etablissement : ESPOL European School of Political and Social Sciences
Langue : Anglais
Formation(s) dans laquelle/lesquelles le cours apparait :
- Master’s in International and Security politics [ECTS : 6,00]
Période : S2
Please note that this is an intense course based on significant reading efforts, regular class participation, and several assignments. A general knowledge of IR and adjacent disciplines is required.
This course engages with two of the most basic and yet most elusive concepts of modern international relations: Sovereignty and the state. Conventionally, the field of International Relations (IR) and neighboring academic disciplines assume the existence of individual states, treating them as actors in an international landscape in which, to paraphrase Max Weber, politics within and politics between states play out. Yet where do states come from in the first place, how do new states emerge, and what does sovereignty entail? Are states ultimately characterized by their means of violence and capital, by bureaucratic procedures, the majesty of rulers, the representation of national communities, the delineation of distinct territories, or the recognition of their legal status under international law? Taking an interdisciplinary journey to the foundations of the modern international order, in history, theory, and practice, the course helps students reflect on the multi-sited enactment of the state and sovereignty, and their ambiguous but central role.
