The State and State-Building : Theory and Practice in Retrospect

Abstract

The state increasingly represents an enigma in contemporary politics, and opens up a variety of controversies in social science research. On the one hand, the state has been a central concept used to constitute the ‘international’, and its institutionalization across the globe the focus of concern behind state-building. For instance, the state frequently represents itself as a practical measure of political maturity - as exemplified by the significance attached to ‘a seat’ at the United Nations and the importance assigned to state-building measures as a means to counter poverty and terrorism. Yet, on the other hand, there are simultaneous claims that the state is increasingly eclipsed by global markets, transnational environmental and social hazards, and not to mention expanding webs of international governance regimes. Following this logic, the concept of the state is argued as outdated, while we are being persuaded to be better off speaking of a politics of networks, instead of a politics among nations.