State Formations: Global Histories and Cultures of Statehood

Featuring a sweeping array of essays from scholars of state formation and development, this book presents an overview of approaches to studying the history of the state. Focusing on the question of state formation, this volume takes a particular look at the beginnings, structures, and constant reforming of state power. Not only do the contributors draw upon both modernist and postmodernist theoretical perspectives, they also address the topic from a global standpoint, examining states from all areas of the world. In their diverse and thorough exploration of state building, the authors cross the theoretical, geographic, and chronological boundaries that traditionally shape this field in order to rethink the customary macro and micro approaches to the study of state building and make the case for global histories of both pre-modern and modern state formations.

Author: John L. Brooke
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: 03/29/2018
Pages: 404
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 1.21lbs
Size: 9.02h x 6.40w x 0.94d
ISBN: 9781108403948

About the Author
Brooke, John L.: - John L. Brooke is Arts and Sciences Distinguished Professor of History, Professor of Anthropology, and Director of the Center for Historical Research at the Ohio State University. He has previously explored the topic of state formation in his prize-winning books, The Heart of the Commonwealth: Society and Political Culture in Worcester County, Massachusetts, 1713-1861 (1989) and Columbia Rising: Civil Life on the Upper Hudson from the Revolution to the Age of Jackson (2010).Strauss, Julia C.: - Julia C. Strauss is Professor of Chinese Politics at School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. Her work on twentieth-century state building and institution building in China and Taiwan has been published widely, including Strong Institutions in Weak Polities: Statebuilding in Republican China, 1927-1940 (1998) and essays in Comparative Studies in Society and History and the Journal of Asian Studies.Anderson, Greg: - Greg Anderson is Associate Professor of History at Ohio State University. His work focuses on ancient Greece and historical thought. His forthcoming book, The Realness of Things Past: Ancient Greece and Ontological History, makes a case for an 'ontological turn' in historical practice.