“Countries that don’t exist” – what a contradiction! And yet, the expression captures a puzzle around a specific phenomenon of the international state system where territorial entities claim to be – and oftentimes successfully act as – independent states, but are not recognized on the international level as such.
This course will explore concepts of the state and statehood that go beyond the ideal type of the modern consolidated nation-state in a Westphalian state system. We will learn which dominant beliefs inform our understanding of the state and statehood, and what alternative approaches from political and legal theory, international relations, sociology and anthropology have to offer to questions such as:
Is there a right for secession and self-determination? How to understand and how to conceptualize break-away regions that separated from their parent states? Can their state-like structures and authority be considered legitimate? Which implications does international non-recognition have for the live conditions of the local population? Who should be held responsible for human rights violations?
- Kursverantwortliche/r: Naja Friederike Augustin