The Patrimonial State in Historic Perspective - Europe in the World
Dates:
- Thu 14 Jan 2021 15.00 - 16.00
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2021-01-14 15:00
2021-01-14 16:00
Europe/Paris
The Patrimonial State in Historic Perspective - Europe in the World
The ‘patrimonial state’ (one in which the ruler claims the realm as their personal property) looms large in the conventional understanding of pre-modern antecedents to the modern state in Europe. It is often thought that before an impersonal territorial state emerged in the seventeenth century, the right to rule was driven by a private claim of dynasties to own their realms as a kind of property. Patrimonial rulership-as-ownership is still widely used today as a model for ‘backward’ political societies. In this presentation, Benjamin Mueser argues that any such state likely never existed in its ideal form. But patrimonial kingship was nonetheless theoretically important for the development and defence of modern states. Drawing on close textual analysis of works in early international law, Mueser posits that authors who rejected the patrimonial idea that rulers could rightfully divide, partition, and alienate their territories, laid the foundation for an impersonal and inviolable territorial community, which underlies the modern state.
Chair: Klodiana Beshku | Robert Schuman Centre, EUI
Deadline for registrations: 13 January @ 5pm CET
Zoom link will be sent upon registration.
Online - Zoom
DD/MM/YYYY
Online - Zoom
The ‘patrimonial state’ (one in which the ruler claims the realm as their personal property) looms large in the conventional understanding of pre-modern antecedents to the modern state in Europe. It is often thought that before an impersonal territorial state emerged in the seventeenth century, the right to rule was driven by a private claim of dynasties to own their realms as a kind of property. Patrimonial rulership-as-ownership is still widely used today as a model for ‘backward’ political societies. In this presentation, Benjamin Mueser argues that any such state likely never existed in its ideal form. But patrimonial kingship was nonetheless theoretically important for the development and defence of modern states. Drawing on close textual analysis of works in early international law, Mueser posits that authors who rejected the patrimonial idea that rulers could rightfully divide, partition, and alienate their territories, laid the foundation for an impersonal and inviolable territorial community, which underlies the modern state.
Chair: Klodiana Beshku | Robert Schuman Centre, EUI
Deadline for registrations: 13 January @ 5pm CET
Zoom link will be sent upon registration.
- Location:
- Online - Zoom
- Affiliation:
- Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies
- Type:
- Research seminar
- Contact:
-
Mia Saugman
-
Send a mail
- Organiser:
-
Ulrich Krotz (EUI - RSCAS)
- Speaker:
-
Benjamin Mueser (Max Weber Fellow, EUI)
- Links:
- Global Governance Programme
- Register here
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