A Search for Sovereignty: Law and Geography in European Empires, 1400–1900 - Hardcover

Benton, Lauren

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0521881056 ISBN 13: 9780521881050

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 2010

Synopsis

A Search for Sovereignty approaches world history by examining the relation of law and geography in European empires between 1400 and 1900. Lauren Benton argues that Europeans imagined imperial space as networks of corridors and enclaves, and that they constructed sovereignty in ways that merged ideas about geography and law. Conflicts over treason, piracy, convict transportation, martial law, and crime created irregular spaces of law, while also attaching legal meanings to familiar geographic categories such as rivers, oceans, islands, and mountains. The resulting legal and spatial anomalies influenced debates about imperial constitutions and international law both in the colonies and at home. This study changes our understanding of empire and its legacies and opens new perspectives on the global history of law.

About this title

Review:

'Lauren Benton's book is sure to remap how we think about the geography of world history. Elegantly written, theoretically sophisticated, and impressively documented, this book challenges the common view of sovereignty as the result of spreading laws and extending territorial claims, as if the world rested on a divide between lawful and lawless lands.' Jeremy Adelman, Princeton University

'The novel topics and surprising juxtapositions in this strikingly original book comprise a vision of world history that is as convincing as it is unsettling. Its achievement confirms Lauren Benton's stature as one of the most creative historians writing today.' David Armitage, Harvard University

'Lauren Benton has shown, with immense erudition and considerable flair, how central the concern with sovereignty was for all the European overseas empires throughout their long and complex histories ... A Search for Sovereignty is a brilliant, innovative, and timely book.' Anthony Pagden, Distinguished Professor of Political Science and History, University of California, Los Angeles

'This is a superb book that will make a splash among historians, geographers, and social theorists alike.' Kären Wigen, Stanford University

'Lauren Benton's deeply imaginative monograph rethinks the relationship between law, geography, and jurisdictional politics in European overseas empires ... Readers who follow Benton upriver, across oceans, and to islands and mountains with eyes trained for legal posturing and jurisdictional politics will see European empires in a new and arresting way.' Law and History Review

'... succeed[s] in presenting a compelling set of reasons for questioning teleological accounts of sovereignty ... [Benton] provides many points of entry for further elaboration on the ways in which empire disrupts the narrative of a steady convergence of sovereignty and bounded territory culminating in the present international legal order.' Kate Purcell, British Yearbook of International Law

Book Description:

This book examines the relation of law and geography in European empires, exploring spatial patterns of treason, piracy, convict transportation, and martial law in European empires between 1400 and 1900. Lauren Benton's research reveals that European powers imagined imperial space as networks of corridors and enclaves, and that they constructed sovereignty in ways that merged geographic discourse with law.

About this edition

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 2010
• ISBN 10: 0521881056
• ISBN 13: 9780521881050
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 358