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4 Dilemmas of contemporary statehood: on the sociological paradoxes of weak dialectical formalism and embedded neoliberalism FD simultaneously refers, within the parameters defined by public law and centralised post-feudal states in Europe and elsewhere, to diverse instances of de-centralisation. The latter are commonly denoted by the separation of powers as well as the protected status of the private individual and the rights of a variety of non-state actors in civil society. Differentiation thus implies de-centralisation, but it does so in a somewhat
3 The Croatian historical statehood narrative In his 1998 state of the nation address, the Croatian President Franjo Tuœman noted that with the restoration of the Croatian Danube region including Vukovar ‘to our homeland’, ‘[t]he centuries-old dream of the Croatian people has thereby been completely fulfilled’.1 Similarly, the new constitution promulgated shortly after independence proclaimed ‘the millennial national identity of the Croatian nation and the continuity of its statehood, confirmed by the course of its entire historical experience in various statal
1 Reconsidering the theoretical preconditions of modern democratic statehood: on mediated unity and overarching legal-political form This chapter examines two of the central premises underlying most standard explanations of the construction of modern democratic statehood and its preconditions and raises fundamental questions about their continuing relevance. The presuppositions in question must be deconstructed because they offer an inaccurate account of the rights of citizens and the resources of states in the twenty-first century. This preliminary work is
’, and therefore ‘constitutive for subjectivity’ (Fraser 2003 : 10). The intersubjective nature of recognition is contingent on an ideal-type speech situation that implies rights and duties for participants and requires uncoerced deliberation among equals in order to validate ideas and identities. In states, spaces for contestation can be institutionalised and tied to collective decision-making processes. In the context of contested statehood, the monopoly over coercive means is at stake, meaning that this possibility is not as easily transferable to the context of
Humanitarian Principles’ , Humanity , 7 : 2 , 255 – 72 . Goffman , E. ( 1978 ), The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life ( Harmondsworth : Penguin Books ). Hagmann , T. and Péclard , D. ( 2010 ), ‘Negotiating Statehood: Dynamics of Power and Domination in Africa’ , Development and Change , 41 : 4 , 539 – 62 . Harrison , E. ( 2013 ), ‘Beyond the Looking Glass? “Aidland” Reconsidered’ , Critique of Anthropology , 33 : 3 , 263 – 79 . Hilhorst , D. and Jansen , B. J. ( 2010 ), ‘Humanitarian Space as Arena: A Perspective on the Everyday
toward more-institutionalised statehood; rather, they are on different long-term pathways. Because gaining and maintaining political power depends on the ability to mobilise and control the means of violence and material reward, the core business of elite players in political market systems is to secure discretionary cash (i.e. the ‘political budget’) or the ability to grant or withhold access to material rewards (e.g. bribes, contracts, formal and informal
Protección Social) ( 2013 ), Protocolo de atención integral en salud con enfoque psicosocial para las personas víctimas del conflicto armado en Colombia . Mora-Gámez , F . ( 2016 ), Reparation beyond Statehood: Assembling Rights Restitution in Post-Conflict Colombia ( PhD dissertation , University of Leicester ). Moreno , M. and Díaz , M. ( 2016 ), ‘ Posturas en la atención psicosocial a víctimas del conflicto armado en Colombia ’, Revista de Ciencias Sociales , 16 : 1 , 193 – 213 , doi: 10.21500/16578031.2172 . Oslender
Populism, neoliberalism, and globalisation are just three of the many terms used to analyse the challenges facing democracies around the world. Critical Theory and Sociological Theory examines those challenges by investigating how the conditions of democratic statehood have been altered at several key historical intervals since 1945. The author explains why the formal mechanisms of democratic statehood, such as elections, have always been complemented by civic, cultural, educational, socio-economic, and, perhaps most importantly, constitutional institutions mediating between citizens and state authority. Critical theory is rearticulated with a contemporary focus in order to show how the mediations between citizens and statehood are once again rapidly changing. The book looks at the ways in which modern societies have developed mixed constitutions in several senses that go beyond the official separation of legislative, executive, and judicial powers. In addition to that separation, one also witnesses a complex set of conflicts, agreements, and precarious compromises that are not adequately defined by the existing conceptual vocabulary on the subject. Darrow Schecter shows why a sociological approach to critical theory is urgently needed to address prevailing conceptual deficits and to explain how the formal mechanisms of democratic statehood need to be complemented and updated in new ways today.
How has it been possible for Irish political leaders to not just accept but actively promote two of the largest challenges to Irish nation-statehood: the concession of sovereignty to the European Union (EU) and the retraction of the constitutional claim over Northern Ireland? This book argues that, rather than indicating a pragmatic retreat, such decisions (and their justification on the public stage) reveal the unique power and enduring relevance of nationalism to Irish and European politics today. As a detailed study of official discourse in twentieth-century Ireland, it traces the ways in which nationalism can be simultaneously redefined and revitalised through European integration. The text moves from an overview of the origins and development of Irish official nationalism to analyse the connections between its response to profound internal and external challenges to Irish nation-statehood. The genius of the Irish approach to such challenges has been to employ innovative EU-inspired concepts in finding agreement with and within Northern Ireland, whilst simultaneously legitimising further European integration on the grounds that it fulfils traditional nationalist ideals. Thus, Irish political leaders have been successful in not only accommodating potent nationalist and pro-European discourses, but in making them appear complementary. The book concludes with an assessment of likely changes in this symbiotic relationship in the post-EU enlargement, post-Celtic Tiger era.
In the story of post-Cold War conceptual confusion, the war in and over Kosovo stands out as a particularly interesting episode. This book provides new and stimulating perspectives on how Kosovo has shaped the new Europe. It breaks down traditional assumptions in the field of security studies by sidelining the theoretical worldview that underlies mainstream strategic thinking on recent events in Kosovo. The book offers a conceptual overview of the Kosovo debate, placing these events in the context of globalisation, European integration and the discourse of modernity and its aftermath. It then examines Kosovo's impact on the idea of war. One of the great paradoxes of the war in Kosovo was that it was not just one campaign but two: there was the ethnic cleansing campaign in Kosovo and the allied bombing campaign against targets in Kosovo and all over Serbia. Serbia's killing of Kosovo has set the parameters of the Balkanisation-integration nexus, offering 'Europe' (and the West in general) a unique opportunity to suggest itself as the strong centre that keeps the margins from running away. Next, it investigates 'Kosovo' as a product of the decay of modern institutions and discourses like sovereignty, statehood, the warring state or the United Nations system. 'Kosovo' has introduced new overtones into the European Weltanschauung and the ways in which 'Europe' asserts itself as an independent power discourse in a globalising world: increasingly diffident, looking for firm foundations in the conceptual void of the turn of the century.