8/12/2019 French Speaking Sovereignities

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/french-speaking-sovereignities 1/4

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

Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3186309 .Accessed: 18/04/2012 07:25

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of 

content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms

of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.

 Blackwell Publishing and The International Studies Association are collaborating with JSTOR to digitize,

preserve and extend access to International Studies Review.

http://www.jstor.org

8/12/2019 French Speaking Sovereignities

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/french-speaking-sovereignities 2/4

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

Publishedby Blackwell Publishers,350 MainStreet, Malden,MA02148, USA, and 108 Cowley Road, OxfordOX4 IJF,UK.

8/12/2019 French Speaking Sovereignities

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/french-speaking-sovereignities 3/4

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-

8/12/2019 French Speaking Sovereignities

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/french-speaking-sovereignities 4/4

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