Search Result

Srl

Item

ID: 120305

Fundamental but not eternal: the public-private distinction, from normative projects to cognitive grid in Western political thought / Halden, Peter

Halden, Peter	Journal Article
	0 Rating(s) & 0 Review(s)

Publication

2013.

Summary/Abstract

Although the public-private distinction is a historical construction it has been deeply internalized and taken for granted in Western ways of thinking about society and politics. Therefore, we often apply it uncritically as a way to categorizing and coding non-Western societies. Doing so unreflectively may distort our observations as well as policies of state- and peacebuilding. I outline the history of the public-private distinction by emphasizing its role in state-formation processes. This distinction was essential to the formation of the state and society as distinct categories. Indeed, it was and is a pre-condition of the autonomy of the state.

Key Words

State formation ; Systems theory ; Luhmann ; Public - Private Distinction ; Public – Private Distinction

Links

'Full Text'

In Basket

Export

ID: 120468

Non-sovereign modernity: attempts to engineer stability in the Balkans 1820-90 / Halden, Peter

Halden, Peter	Journal Article
	0 Rating(s) & 0 Review(s)

Publication

2013.

Summary/Abstract

Social theory almost invariably equates modernity with the sovereign state. This equation must be nuanced because the modern era and modern strategies of international stability have contained non-sovereign units. In the nineteenth century, the Great Powers tried to create international stability by engineering forms of rule in Europe. These strategies built on distinctively modern ideas: the possibility of radically breaking with the past, redesigning political organisations, and actively controlling political events through rational planning. Throughout the century the Great Powers alternated between creating non-sovereign units and creating sovereign units as instruments in these stabilising strategies. The degree of trust between the Great Powers accounts for the shift between the two strategies: they tended to create non-sovereign units when mutual trust was high and sovereign ones when trust was low. This article analyses Great Power strategies of designing forms of rule in the Balkans between 1820 and 1878. Like in previous centuries, nineteenth-century Europe actually consisted of two parallel but connected systems: the egalitarian system of sovereign states and a system of non-sovereign entities. Non-sovereign units disappeared only late in the century and this process was affected by the increasing rivalry and mistrust between the sovereign states.

Key Words

Europe ; Great Power ; Social Theory ; Sovereign States ; Balkan ; Rivalry ;
International stability

Links

'Full Text'

In Basket

Export

ID: 161540

Organized armed groups as ruling organizations / Halden, Peter

Halden, Peter	Journal Article
	0 Rating(s) & 0 Review(s)

Summary/Abstract

Previous studies of the cohesion of organized armed groups (OAGs) have made great progress, but they have mostly focused on units fighting for modern Western states. I argue that the study of OAGs that contain their own legitimacy requires a broadened theoretical framework. Such groups may be conceptualized as “ruling organizations” in Max Weber’s terminology. Examples of such groups range from early medieval warbands to modern militias and guerrillas. Members of ruling organizations obey commands for a combination of three reasons: rational, traditional, and charismatic—these in turn form the basis of the legitimacy of the organization. Pinpointing the foundations of obedience in a group provides us with another way of emphasizing weak points that we want to either target or reinforce. This study contributes theoretically to the study of cohesion by linking it to theories of legitimacy in political orders.

Key Words

Sociology ; Political Science ; Military Organization ; Cohesion/Disintegration

Links

'Full Text'

In Basket

Export

ID: 107620

Past, present and future(s) of environmental security studies / Halden, Peter

Halden, Peter	Journal Article
	0 Rating(s) & 0 Review(s)

Publication

2011.

Key Words

Climate Change ; Environment Security ; Environmental Issues ; Human Civilization ; Environmental Security Studies (ESS)

In Basket

Export