Topic
Sovereignty
About: Sovereignty is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 25909 publications have been published within this topic receiving 410148 citations.
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TL;DR: In this article, the authors trace the evolution of the trusteeship concept in modern environmental law and its ramifications for international law and governance, as reflected in current proposals suggesting that these expanded sovereign rights of nation states must be considered fiduciary rather than proprietary.
Abstract: In spite of early hopes for a “fading out” of sovereignty in the face of global environmental challenges, recent codifications of international law have confirmed the creeping national enclosure of what were once considered common assets—e.g., exclusive economic zones under the 1982 Law of the Sea Convention, or access to genetic resources from the 1983 International Undertaking via the 1992 Biodiversity Convention to the 2001 Plant Gene Treaty. Yet, because of their explicit limitation and qualification by “common interest” obligations, these expanded sovereign rights of nation states must be considered fiduciary rather than proprietary. Hence, the emerging legal regime is one of international public trusteeship (sometimes referred to as guardianship or stewardship) over a widening range of environmental resources. The article traces the evolution of the trusteeship concept in modern environmental law and its ramifications for international law and governance, as reflected in current proposals suggesting...
86 citations
TL;DR: The renewed quest for generality appears to be partly an autonomous development within the scholarly discipline, as exemplified by "comparative analysis" and emphasis on common functional requisites.
Abstract: Over the years, sociology has exhibited a partly dialectical and partly alternating emphasis on the global and on the particular. Many early theorists emphasized the unity of mankind, or attempted to order civilizations according to various theories of history. Subsequently, there was a retreat to description and data collection, particularly in the United States; the rediscovery of other times and other places, but in a predominantly relativistic context; and the use of "systems" concepts to exaggerate the sovereignty of society. The renewed quest for generality appears to be partly an autonomous development within the scholarly discipline, as exemplified by "comparative analysis" and emphasis on common functional requisites. A seemingly more powerful influence has been the course of contemporary history, which is divisive in important and conspicuous ways, but has elements of unity, such as the universal quest for economic growth and political participation. Though the degree to which common structural ...
86 citations
TL;DR: For instance, the authors examined Chinese maps examined here will show that the very material borders between foreign and domestic space are the outgrowth of the symbolic workings of historical geography and the conventions of Chinese cartography.
Abstract: Like a debutante on the world stage, China has been modeling national images for its ongoing coming-out party. After decades of revolutionary diplomacy that challenged the international system, since the 1990s the People’s Republic of China (PRC) has worked hard to ease the concerns of countries that used to be targets of its revolutionary activities. China as a “peacefully rising” great power that aims to create a “harmonious world” is Beijing’s latest narrative that seeks to present the PRC to the world as a cuddly panda rather than a ravenous dragon. Maps are an important part of the continual self-crafting of any nation’s image. As the Chinese maps examined here will show, the very material borders between foreign and domestic space are the outgrowth of the symbolic workings of historical geography and the conventions of Chinese cartography. These maps do much more than celebrate the extent of Chinese sovereignty; they also mourn the loss of national territories through a cartography of national humiliation. In this way, the messy geopolitics of disputed borders is informed by the contingent biopolitics of identity practices.
85 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examine the phenomenon of transnational religious actors and assess the claim that their activities can undermine state sovereignty and conclude that the Roman Catholic Church has been influential in some national contexts in helping undermine the hegemony of authoritarian governments, but that this should not be seen as a more general threat to state sovereignty.
Abstract: This article generally examines the phenomenon of transnational religious actors and seeks to assess the claim that their activities can undermine state sovereignty. It starts from the premise that globalisation facilitates the growth of transnational networks of religious actors. Feeding off each other's ideas and perhaps aiding each other with funds, they are bodies whose main priority is the well-being and advance of their transnational religious community. The article focuses upon two specific transnational religious actors: the Roman Catholic Church and the Organisation of the Islamic Conference. It concludes by noting that, like Islamic radicals, the Catholic Church has been influential in some national contexts in helping undermine the hegemony of authoritarian governments, but that this should not be seen as a more general threat to state sovereignty.
85 citations
TL;DR: Trask as discussed by the authors argued that the United States Constitution has nothing to say to Chamorro, Samoans, Hawaiians, Inuit, and American Indians, since the Constitution is an imposed colonial structure, nothing therein prevents the taking of Native lands or the incorporation of unwilling Native peoples.
Abstract: The famed American Constitution . . . that is, the document from which civil rights emanate within the boundaries of the United States, has nothing to say to Chamorro, Samoans, Hawaiians, Inuit, and American Indians. As indigenous peoples we are all outside the Constitution, the settler document that declares ownership over indigenous lands and peoples. Since the Constitution is an imposed colonial structure, nothing therein prevents the taking of Native lands or the incorporation of unwilling Native peoples into the United States. —Haunani-Kay Trask, From a Native Daughter: Colonialism and Sovereignty in Hawai‘i
85 citations