Border, Sovereignty, Law

2021-03-21 - 2021-03-21

Border, Sovereignty, Law
Authors｜Lin Shu-fen (ed.), Carl Schmitt, Etienne Balibar, Nick Vaughan-Williams, Naoki Sakai, Jody Blanco、Rune Svarverud, Hung-Yueh Lan, Pál Nyiri
Press｜National Chiao Tung University
ISBN｜9789578614499
Synopsis

From the late 80's, in response to the dramatically reformed new world order after cold war, there has been a trend of discussion on the history, presence and future of sovereign nation-state in academia.

On the one hand, a number of advocates of regional integration and globalization question the principles of sovereignty of nation-states, which see “territoriality” as a doctrine, perceive territorial integrity, fixed border and population as constituent elements of sovereignty, and claims that themselves have the ultimate authority in making laws and determining everything occurred in the territory. These advocates believe that not only do the principles of sovereignty fail to help people to build a better world order, they also ignore the effects brought by the practices of international non-state actors.
On the other hand, many researchers no longer assume the essence of sovereignty or adhere it to its traditional definition. Instead, they tend to discuss the concept of sovereignty in a more historical and dynamic way with a global vision. The discussion is focused on how “sovereignty” has become a key political concept that has caused controversies in particular context, on what conditions a particular view of sovereignty can be embodied in an establishment, an operation or a change of a political system, how “sovereignty” is perceived and operated in different ways in different historical periods or regions, and what the consequences are when these differences collide.

This discussion on sovereignty also questions other related concepts, such as state, territory, border, citizenship, nationalism and international legal system. These concepts are therefore being re-examined and debated.

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