Sovereignty and the Nation-state

Question 1

Main Points:

Answer 1

Transnational flows pre-exist nation-states and have shaped them.
Nation-state formation involves violence, aiming to divide the world into “national” and “international.”
Nation-state formation attempts to erase the transnational nature of world politics.

Question 2

State Definition (Michael Mann):

Answer 2

Set of institutions and personnel.
Centralized with a monopoly of coercive power.
Defined boundary indicating territorial limits.

Question 3

Nation Definition (Anthony Smith):

Answer 3

Named human population sharing historic territory, common myths, memories, culture, economy, and legal rights.

Question 4

Formation of States 1

Answer 4

People and Institutions Before Nation-State:
Political institutions and communities were transnational.

Question 5

Formation of States 2

Answer 5

Why Did States Appear? (Charles Tilly):
Extracting resources for war led to bureaucracies, strengthening state formation.

Question 6

Formation of States 3

Answer 6

Why Territorial States? (Hendrik Spruyt):
Territorial states emerged due to the mediocre ability of city-states and empires in war and trade.

Question 7

Slow Emergence of the Nation-State
Westphalia (1648):

Answer 7

Myth of the modern nation-state.
Augsburg 1555: Whose realm, his religion.

Question 8

Definition of Sovereignty (Stephen Krasner):

Answer 8

Domestic sovereignty, interdependence sovereignty, international legal sovereignty, Westphalian sovereignty.

Question 9

Permanence of Transnational Processes:

Answer 9

Transnational elites, European colonial domination, circulation of people.

Question 10

Violent Territorialization:

Answer 10

Territorial homogenization through violence.
Invention of the passport for control.
Nationalization of minds with ideologies emphasizing forgetting transnationalism.

Question 11

Methodological Nationalism

Answer 11

Definition: The naturalization of the nation-state by the social sciences.

Characteristics:
Assumes countries as natural units for comparative studies.
Equates society with the nation-state.
Conflates national interests with the purposes of social science.

Reflects: Reinforces the identification scholars maintain with their own nation-states.

Question 12

Variants of Methodological Nationalism

Answer 12

Ignoring or Disregarding Importance of Nationalism

Naturalization:
Takes for granted that the boundaries of the nation-state define the units of analysis.

Territorial Limitation:
Confines the study of social processes to the territory of the nation-state.

Question 13

Reasons for Ignoring Nationalism in Social Sciences

Answer 13

Historical Perspectives:
Marx, Durkheim, Weber believed in the power of modernization to reduce nationalism.

Division of Labor:
Disciplines relegated nationalism to history.

Naturalization:
Belief in a “container” model of society.

Question 14

Phases of Methodological Nationalism

Answer 14

Phase I: Prewar Era
Trends: Nation-state building, intensive globalization, imperialism.

Phase II: WWI to the Cold War
Factors: End of free movement of labor, closing of borders, national sentiment post-WWI.
Social Science: Chicago school, migration as assimilation, migrant identities as security threats.

Phase III: The Cold War
Erasure of historical memory of transnationalism.
Decolonization, growth of nationalism, development of welfare capitalism.

Cold War: Tighter policing of borders and migration, refugees/guest workers.

Question 15

Conclusion

Answer 15

Recovery of Transnationalism History:
Emphasizes the need to explore the history of transnationalism.

Nation-State’s Status:
Warns against the idea that the nation-state is dead.

Theories:
Highlights that all theories have strengths and weaknesses, emphasizing some aspects and hiding others.