| Kommentar |
Sovereignty is one of the central categories of modern political thought and a distinguishing feature of the political organization of modern international world order. Yet, there has never been much sympathy for sovereignty among political theorists who criticized its authoritarian implications. Today many thinkers believe that the concept of sovereignty has finally been rendered completely obsolete in the process of globalization, European integration, and the rise of transnational governance and cosmopolitan human rights law. This class offers an overview of the discourse on sovereignty in political theory. The theories in focus will include works by Thomas Hobbes, Jean Jacques Rousseau, John Locke, the Federalists, Hans Kelsen, Carl Schmitt, and Hannah Arendt. In the second part of the class, we will discuss current affairs which represent conflicts and issues of sovereignty addressed by the discussed authors. The focus of our attention will be on human rights, postcolonial sovereignty, transnational law, and natural resources. |
| Literatur |
Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan, ed. J. C. A. Gaskin. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991.
John Locke, Two Treatises of Government. Cambridge University Press, 2005.
Jean-Jacques Rousseau, “On the Social Contract,” in The Basic Political Writings, trans. Donald A. Cress. Indianapolis: Hackett, 1987.
Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, John Jay, The Federalist, ed. by Jacob Cooke. Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University Press, 1967.
Hans Kelsen, General Theory of Law and State. Piscataway, New Jersey: Transaction Publishers, 2006.
Carl Schmitt, Political Theology. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2005; Dictatorship. Cambridge, UK: Polity Press, 2014.
Hannah Arendt, On Revolution. London: Penguin Books, 1963; On Violence. New York: Harcourt, Brace & World, 1970. |
