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Local Self-Governance in the Context of Weak Statehood in Antiquity and the Modern Era. A Program for a Fresh Perspective

Please always quote using this URN: urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-207371
  • The nucleus of statehood is situated at the local level: in the village, the neighborhood, the city district. This is where a community, beyond the level of the family, first develops collective rules that are intended to ensure its continued existence. But usually this is not the only level of governance at play. Above it, there are supralocal formations of power, varying in scope from regional networks to empires, which supplement the local orders or compete with them. The premise of this Research Unit is that local forms of self-governanceThe nucleus of statehood is situated at the local level: in the village, the neighborhood, the city district. This is where a community, beyond the level of the family, first develops collective rules that are intended to ensure its continued existence. But usually this is not the only level of governance at play. Above it, there are supralocal formations of power, varying in scope from regional networks to empires, which supplement the local orders or compete with them. The premise of this Research Unit is that local forms of self-governance are especially heterogeneous and prominent, wherever supralocal statehood exists in the mode of weak permeation. The central question of our approach is how local forms of self-governance work in this context. We will examine the relations to the state level as well as to other local groups as they develop over time; the scope and spatial contingency of forms of self-governance; their legitimization and the interdependency with the organization and collective identity of those groups which carry them out; finally, we will turn our attention to the significance of self-governance for the configuration of weak statehood. The empirical focus will be at the local level, which has so far been largely neglected in the research on governance beyond the state. In order to achieve this, we will work with case studies that are structured by categories and situated in geographical areas and time periods that lie outside of modern Europe with its particular development of statehood since the Late Middle Ages: in Antiquity, and in the Global South of the present. By incorporating these different time frames, we hope to contribute to overcoming the dichotomy between the modern and pre-modern era, which is often given canonical status. Our goal is to create a comparative analysis of different configurations of order as well as the development of a typology of patterns of local governance. The structure of the empirical comparison itself promises methodological insights, since it will entail recognizing, dealing with, and overcoming disciplinary limitations. Starting with the identification of typical patterns and processes, we hope to gain a better grasp of the mechanisms by which local configurations of order succeed, while at the same time advancing the theoretical debate. This will allow us to make an interdisciplinary contribution to the understanding of fundamental elements of statehood and local governance that are of central importance, especially in the context of weak statehood. The insights we hope to gain by adopting this historical perspective will contribute to understanding a present that is not based exclusively on its own, seemingly completely new preconditions, and will thus significantly sharpen the political analysis of various forms of governance.show moreshow less

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Title Additional (German):Lokale Selbstregelungen im Kontext schwacher Staatlichkeit in Antike und Moderne. Ein Forschungsprogramm für einen Perspektivwechsel
Author: Rene Pfeilschifter, Hans-Joachim Lauth, Doris Fischer, Eberhard Rothfuß, Andreas Schachner, Barbara Schmitz, Katja Werthmann
URN:urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-207371
Document Type:Working Paper
Faculties:Katholisch-Theologische Fakultät / Institut für Biblische Theologie
Philosophische Fakultät (Histor., philolog., Kultur- und geograph. Wissensch.) / Institut für Kulturwissenschaften Ost- und Südasiens
Philosophische Fakultät (Histor., philolog., Kultur- und geograph. Wissensch.) / Institut für Altertumswissenschaften
Philosophische Fakultät (Histor., philolog., Kultur- und geograph. Wissensch.) / Institut für Geschichte
Fakultät für Humanwissenschaften (Philos., Psycho., Erziehungs- u. Gesell.-Wissensch.) / Institut für Politikwissenschaft und Soziologie
Language:English
ISSN:2698-2684
Year of Completion:2020
Edition:English Edition
Series (Serial Number):LoSAM Working Papers (1(eng))
Pagenumber:34
DOI:https://doi.org/10.25972/OPUS-20737
Sonstige beteiligte Institutionen:Universität Bayreuth
Sonstige beteiligte Institutionen:Universität Leipzig
Sonstige beteiligte Institutionen:Deutsches Archäologisches Institut
Sonstige beteiligte Institutionen:DFG Forschungsgruppe 2757 / Lokale Selbstregelungen im Kontext schwacher Staatlichkeit in Antike und Moderne (LoSAM)
Dewey Decimal Classification:2 Religion / 22 Bibel / 220 Bibel
3 Sozialwissenschaften / 32 Politikwissenschaft / 320 Politikwissenschaft
4 Sprache / 49 Andere Sprachen / 495 Ost- und südostasiatische Sprachen
9 Geschichte und Geografie / 90 Geschichte / 900 Geschichte und Geografie
9 Geschichte und Geografie / 95 Geschichte Asiens / 950 Geschichte Asiens; des Fernen Ostens
GND Keyword:Begrenzte Staatlichkeit; Vergleichende politische Wissenschaft; Altertum; Geschichte; Moderne
Tag:Global South; interdisciplinarity; local self-governance; weak statehood
Release Date:2020/07/03
Note:
Die deutsche Fassung dieses Working Papers ist unter https://doi.org/10.25972/OPUS-19347 verfügbar.
Licence (German):License LogoCC BY: Creative-Commons-Lizenz: Namensnennung 4.0 International