french speaking sovereignities
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French-Speaking SovereigntiesUn monde sans souveraineté: Les états entre ruse et responsabilité by Bertrand Badie;Mondialisation, souveraineté et théories des relations internationales by Pierre de SernaclensReview by: Ariel ColonomosInternational Studies Review, Vol. 2, No. 3 (Autumn, 2000), pp. 115-117Published by: Blackwell Publishing on behalf of The International Studies Association
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French Speakingovereignties
Un monde sans souveraineti: Les itats entre ruse et responsabiliti, Bertrand
Badie (Paris:Fayard,1999). 306 pp., 135FF.
Mondialisation, souveraineti et theories des relations internationales, Pierre
de Sernaclens(Paris:ArmandCollin, 1998). 218 pp., 160FF.
h e s e recentbooks nFrench-Badie is French ndSernaclenss Swiss-
testify to the importanceof sovereigntyas an issue within international
relationsstudies n Europe.Adoptingapostrealistperspective,bothbooks
strongly emphasizeredefiningsovereigntyaftertheColdWar.Sernaclenspointsout that sovereignty is limited today (chap. 2, L'&re es souverainet6slim-
itees ), while Badie shows that sovereigntyhas been constructedas a politicalfictionsince thedevelopmentof the modemstateduring heRenaissance chap.1,
Une inventioncomplexe,
andchap. 2,
Desusages ambigus ).In an approach argely drawnfromhistoricalsociology since his first pub-
lications on the developmentof the state, Badie seeks to analyze the historical
constructionof state authorityand the meaningof this constructionfor powerrelations today. Sovereignty as a norm or principlehas had a majorfunction
withinthe international ystem. Sernaclens still sees it as a useful guidelinethat
orients relations between states (pp. 68-69).Badie's perspectiveis definitely morecritical,pointingout the dysfunction
of sovereignty after the Cold War and the redefinition of the power and the
capacityof the state (chap.4, Lessouverainet6sd6chues ).In this book, as inhis otherworks, Badie underlinesthe ambivalence of state power.On the one
hand,the signs of the erosionof sovereigntyareobvious;on the other,thereare
contexts conducive to a redefinitionof state power and the rebirth of sover-
eignty practices. The United States when confronted with treaties that couldlimit its power,China'sstrategyon the international cene, or thatof deviantstates such as IraqorBurmaare trueexamplesof these contemporaryorms of
resistanceagainstthe predicteddeath of sovereignty.When he looks at the changes induced by globalization,Badie is critical,
yet his criticism is mitigated by his analysis of new forms of regulationsfol-lowing the steps of his previousbook, La Fin des Territoires.States and non-
O 2001 InternationalStudiesAssociation
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116 Ariel Colonomos
stateactors nteractalongthe domestic oreignfrontier, ndBadie refers mplicitlyto James Rosenau's theories.In this perspective,new interactionsbetween var-
ious heterogeneousactors(chap.5, Les communautesde responsabilit6 )pave
the way for the emergence of a new norm and responsibility, orienting newforms of intervention.
These debateshave decisive theoretical mplications.Sernaclenspointsto the
limitsof realism and iberalismand underlines hechallengethatthe redefinition
of sovereignty represents or traditional R studies. Yet Badie is keen to encour-
age the birthof a new sociological inquiry hat wouldexplicitly focus on thedy-namicsat stake nthe definitionofpost-Westphalianssues. Theemergenceof what
Badiecalls communitiesof responsibility necessitates a comprehensivesoci-
ological analysisthatwouldenableus to fully graspthesemicro-andmacrophe-
nomena.Along with other Frenchauthorssuchas DidierBigo, Badie calls for apolitical sociology of international elationsthat wouldprovideinstrumentsde-
signedto comprehend he global changesof the twenty-firstcentury.The issue of responsibility s linkedto a seriesof international onceptsand
practicesmostlyreferred o in theAnglo-Saxonworld as accountability. adie
implicitly refers to new social contexts where institutions, states, or inter-
nationalorganizationssuchas the UnitedNationsareheld accountable or their
presentor past political action. Unfortunately, nternational heory has yet to
addressthese new issues and shows little sign of adaptingto modern times.
Consequently,IR scholars are having difficulties explaining the specificity ofthese new modes of bargainingamong states and nonstate actors.A sociohis-
toricalanalysis of accountabilityas a global norm would help to betterunder-
standtheredefinitionof sovereignty.Inthisprocess, entrepreneurial ormssuch
as internationalawyers,activists,and social movementsplay a decisive role.
Sernaclens,who has previouslydirected the humanrightsoffice at the UN
Educational,Scientific, and CulturalOrganization, s highly criticalof notions
like globalcivil society. In these supposedlynew forms of cosmopolitanism,he sees nothing more than Western bureaucratic nfluence (governance) and
some market-oriented ocial forces (business firms in search of legitimacy)
(chap.7, Lamondialisationentreordreet anarchie,uneconceptionutilitaire,
p. 200-202). For this author, global civil society and internationalpublic
opinion belong to the practiceand discourse of intergovernmentalorganiza-tions and are also increasinglypopularamongnongovernmentalorganizationsthat share the same enthusiasm for these concepts, specifically designed to
legitimize theiraction.
Contemporary iterature ocusing on sovereignty tends to deconstructthe
realist perspectiveand points out new phenomenaarising from globalization,
suchas thediffusionof moral issues. Badie'sworkstronglycriticizesthe realistapproachand favors a sociological interpretation f global issues affecting the
transformationof state power.Thus the first chapterof his book on the socio-
logical history of sovereignty is inspired by constructivism.Yet Badie intro-
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Reviews 117
duces a new perspective when he interpretsthe contemporary practices of
sovereignty and the emergence of responsibilityas an internationalguidelinefor the behavior of state and nonstate actors. When analyzing responsibility,
Badie shows less enthusiasmfor constructivismwhere a cosmopolitanview ofpolitical theorytakes over from the critical constructivistapproach.
Inthe second half of his book (fromchap.5), Badie buildson theinsightsof
JtirgenHabermas,who sees the diffusion of cosmopolitanideas as a redefini-
tion of state power and the consolidation of humanrights law. Habermassug-
gests thatwe aremoving toward acosmopolitanlaw of a global civil society
(kosmopolitischenRecht einer Weltbiirgergesellschaft).f his analysis is cor-
rect,the media would play a decisive role in the definitionof this transnational
public civil sphere.
Responsibilitylies at the heartof this phenomenon,testifying to the expan-sion of publicity on a global scale. Froma sociological point of view, when
IR scholars are confronted with such issues as militaryintervention and eco-
nomic or political sanctions-say, in the case of Austria-a thoroughassess-
ment of themedia'srolewouldhelptounderstandheemergenceof responsibility.
Despite its diffusecharacter, esponsibility s anemergingnormsharedby states
and nongovermentalactors;yet, within a Habermasian ramework, he redefi-
nition of humanrights laws is an open andchallengingfield of study.Badie's sociohistorical, constructivist and cosmopolitan dualism is most
stimulatingwhen the definitionof newparadigmss at stake.Postrealismremainsan open field for interdisciplinaryanalysis, and this tension between critiqueand hope is the true symptomof such an epistemological quest. The study ofthe circulation of norms and especially the values that validate the idea of
responsibility will enable us to better understandthe role of individuals in
reinventingnormativeworldviews. A decisive question arises: Wouldrespon-sibility,a subjectiveposture, ake oversovereignty,a subjectivestandpointmade
objective by power and law? In such circumstances,IR studies or, more pre-
cisely, IR scholars,would be confrontedwith the experienceof their own sub-
jectivity: le retourdu sujet as a poststructural hallenge?
REFERENCES
BertrandBadie, L'Etat importd Paris:Fayard,1992).
---, La Fin des territoires(Paris:Fayard,1995).
Saskia Sassen, Losing Control:Sovereigntyin an Age of Globalization(NewYork:ColumbiaUniversityPress, 1996).
JtirgenHabermas,Apres l'stat-nation (Paris:Fayard,2000).
-Ariel ColonomosCentre d'Etudes et de Recherches Internationales, Paris