The State of Sovereignty: Territories, Laws, Populations

The State of Sovereignty examines how it came to pass that the nation-state became the prevailing form of governance in the world today. Spanning the 19th and 20th centuries and addressing colonization and decolonization around the globe, these essays argue that sovereignty is a set of historically contingent practices, and not something that accrues naturally to states. The contributors explore the different ways in which sovereign political forms have been defined and have defined themselves, placing recent debates about nations and national identity within a broader history of sovereignty, territory, and legality.

Author: Douglas Howland
Publisher: Indiana University Press
Published: 12/10/2008
Pages: 296
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 1.05lbs
Size: 9.20h x 6.10w x 0.80d
ISBN: 9780253220165

About the Author

Douglas Howland is the David D. Buck Professor of Chinese History at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

Luise White is Professor of History at the University of Florida.