What, When, and Where, Then, is the Concept of Sovereignty?
It is difficult to overstate the importance of the concept sovereignty for international relations (IR). And yet, understanding the historical emergence of sovereignty in international relations has long been curtailed by the all-encompassing myth of the Peace of Westphalia. While criticism of this myth has opened space for further historical inquiry in recent years, it has also raised important questions of historical interpretation and methodology relevant to IR, as applying our current conceptual framework to distant historical cases is far from unproblematic. Central among these questions is the when, what, and how of sovereignty: from when can we use “sovereignty” to analyze international politics and for which polities? Can sovereignty be used when the actors themselves did not have recourse to the terminology? And what about polities that do not have recourse to the term at all? What are the theoretical implications of applying the concept of sovereignty to early polities? From different theoretical and methodological perspectives, the contributions in this forum shed light on these questions of sovereignty and how to treat the concept analytically when applied to a period or place when/where the term did not exist as such. In doing so, this forum makes the case for a sensitivity to the historical dimension of our arguments about sovereignty—and, by extension, international relations past and present—as this holds the key to the types of claims we can make about the polities of the world and their relations.
Prestisjefylt ERC-finansiering til Elana Wilson Rowe – ‘Et veldig viktig prosjekt’
Det europeiske forskningsrådet (ERC) deler årlig ut ‘Starting grants’ til forskere tidlig i karriereløpet. 27. juli ble det klart at 403 forskere får slik finansiering i år, og at NUPIs Elana Wilson Rowe er en av dem.
The Uses of Comparisons: A Critical Review of Approaches to Comparisons in Development Studies
This article discusses different forms of comparisons in development studies and some of the justifications that are used for making them. The main questions I discuss are the following: First, how are comparisons used in development studies? Second, how should comparisons be carried out? I distinguish between two main forms of comparisons. First; there are what I call asymmetrical comparisons, where one compares a case to an exemplar or model. In development studies, this form of comparison usually takes the form of comparing a given phenomenon in the West with instances of the same phenomenon in countries outside the West (the state, the economy, the family structure, etc.). The aim of the comparison is to understand the non-Western case, while the Western case is used as a means to reach such understanding. Second, there are what I call symmetrical comparisons, where the cases compared are given equal treatment, and where the aim of the comparison is to reach a better understanding of all the cases included in the study. The article discusses three different forms of symmetrical comparisons: comparisons-as-quasi-experiments, interpretive comparisons and comparative historical analysis, and concludes that symmetrical comparisons based on comparative historical analysis are the best approach to comparative studies.
Thailand og grottedramaet: Hvilken historie ble vi egentlig fortalt?
Ansiktsløse masser og abstrakt lidelse sliter i kampen om verdens oppmerksomhet, skriver NUPI-forsker Frida Bjørneseth i Aftenposten-kronikk.
ANALYSE: Polen mellom fortid, notid og framtid
2015 markerer eit viktig skilje i Polens nyare historie, skriv NUPI-forskar Jakub Godzimirski.
Frukostseminar: Ei verd av mistillit – den demokratiske kapitalismen i krise
Korleis skal vi kunne sikre ein framtidig demokratisk kapitalisme i ei verd der du ikkje veit kven du kan stole på?
KRONIKK: NATO-toppmøtet alle gruer seg til
Sår Donald Trump igjen tvil om USAs forpliktelser i NATO, vil det sende sjokkbølger gjennom alliansen.
Skatt er den nye kvinnekampen
Det er nå økt oppmerksomhet omkring hvordan skatteregimer og kapitalflukt påvirker kvinners liv. I forbindelse med at kampen mot ulovlig kapitalflyt tolkes i et menneskerettighetsperspektiv, får skattespørsmål også relevans opp mot likestillingsproblematikk og kvinners rettigheter.
KRONIKK: Familien i internasjonal politikk
«Tradisjonelle familieverdier» blir stadig oftere brukt for å rettferdiggjøre stigmatisering.
New Dynamics in Japan-Russia Energy Relations 2011-2017
Since the triple disaster in Japan in 2011, the energy dimension of Japan-Russia relations in the Russian Far East (RFE) has developed at a more rapid pace. The integration of the energy markets of the world’s top liquefied natural gas (LNG) importer, Japan, and major energy exporter, Russia, has paralleled a warmer bilateral political climate and been accelerated by Russia’s turn to the East. In the aftermath of the Ukraine crisis, the globe’s energy landscape has been significantly altered and both Russia and Japan have faced constraints economically and in terms of bilateral cooperation. Questions remain about how bilateral energy relations will develop in the face of competition from Japan’s traditional energy suppliers and ongoing Japanese government efforts to diversify energy sources. Is energy prompting a stronger bilateral political bond or just fostering a limited partnership in this area? In considering the consequences of the Fukushima and Ukraine crises on Japan-Russia energy relations and the energy dimension of Russia’s pivot to Asia, the topic is placed in a wider context of new dynamics in Japan-Russia relations.