Geneviève Nootens

The concept of constituent power plays a major part in modern political and legal theory— in how we think about the political. This book tackles the twofold issue of public authority and public autonomy in the modern conception of the political by analysing the notion of constituent power, its function in the modern political apparatus, and debates about its meaning and function in our own context.Focusing on contemporary debates on constitutionalism "beyond" the state, Geneviève Nootens assesses the prospects for recasting the notion of constituent power in a polycentric setting that challenges state sovereignty as embodying the autonomy of the political. She argues that constituent power belongs with the conceptual apparatus of a theory of government peculiar to a statist way of knowing, and being into, the world, and that it is too much dependent upon the statist framework for it to have critical purchase on the new mappings of public authority. Nootens stresses the critical need to frame public authority appropriately if we are to conceptualize a conception of collective political agency that can sustain public autonomy in the current era.Constituent Power Beyond the State will be of interest to students and scholars of political theory, democratic theory, law, and constitutionalism.

The concept of constituent power plays a major part in modern political and legal theory— in how we think about the political. This book tackles the twofold issue of public authority and public autonomy in the modern conception of the political by analysing the notion of constituent power, its function in the modern political apparatus, and debates about its meaning and function in our own context.Focusing on contemporary debates on constitutionalism "beyond" the state, Geneviève Nootens assesses the prospects for recasting the notion of constituent power in a polycentric setting that challenges state sovereignty as embodying the autonomy of the political. She argues that constituent power belongs with the conceptual apparatus of a theory of government peculiar to a statist way of knowing, and being into, the world, and that it is too much dependent upon the statist framework for it to have critical purchase on the new mappings of public authority. Nootens stresses the critical need to frame public authority appropriately if we are to conceptualize a conception of collective political agency that can sustain public autonomy in the current era.Constituent Power Beyond the State will be of interest to students and scholars of political theory, democratic theory, law, and constitutionalism.

This book is an inquiry into the history of the idea of popular sovereignty as it has been shaped by the struggles between rulers and ruled. It builds on the notion that a thorough analysis of how the idea of popular sovereignty emerges from, and interacts with, a political history of contention within changing polities can help us to draw similarities and differences with our own age. Providing a historical perspective to the present day, Nootens pays strong attention to the role of democratization processes and to the relationship between meanings conveyed by the idea of popular sovereignty, political contention, and changing representations of the governing relationship. The latter has been undergoing significant transformations in the last decades, and these transformations impact significantly upon people’s rights, interests, wealth, and capacity to decide for themselves. In order to understand popular sovereignty in an era of globalization, this book argues that focus should be put on current struggles between rulers and ruled, as well as on current transformations of the relationship between public and private spheres. Understanding the claims involved in current processes of contention over decision-making processes is key to understanding popular sovereignty in an era of globalization.Making an important contribution to debates on sovereignty, Popular Sovereignty in the West will be of interest to students and scholars of modern political theory, sovereignty, and democratization studies.

This book is an inquiry into the history of the idea of popular sovereignty as it has been shaped by the struggles between rulers and ruled. It builds on the notion that a thorough analysis of how the idea of popular sovereignty emerges from, and interacts with, a political history of contention within changing polities can help us to draw similarities and differences with our own age. Providing a historical perspective to the present day, Nootens pays strong attention to the role of democratization processes and to the relationship between meanings conveyed by the idea of popular sovereignty, political contention, and changing representations of the governing relationship. The latter has been undergoing significant transformations in the last decades, and these transformations impact significantly upon people’s rights, interests, wealth, and capacity to decide for themselves. In order to understand popular sovereignty in an era of globalization, this book argues that focus should be put on current struggles between rulers and ruled, as well as on current transformations of the relationship between public and private spheres. Understanding the claims involved in current processes of contention over decision-making processes is key to understanding popular sovereignty in an era of globalization.Making an important contribution to debates on sovereignty, Popular Sovereignty in the West will be of interest to students and scholars of modern political theory, sovereignty, and democratization studies.

In light of a renewed interest in the study of nationalism, Contemporary Majority Nationalism brings together a group of major scholars committed to making sense of this widespread phenomenon. To better illustrate the reality of majority nationalism and the way it has been expressed, authors combine analytical and comparative perspectives. In the first section, contributors highlight the paradox of majority nationalism and the ways in which collective identities become national identities. The second section offers in-depth case study analyses of France, the United Kingdom, Spain, Canada, and the United States. This book is an international project led by three members of the Research Group on Plurinational Societies based at Universite du Quebec a Montreal. Contributors include James Bickerton (St-Francis Xavier University), Angel Castineira (ESADE - Escuela superior de administracion y direccion de empresas), John Coakley (University College Dublin), Alain Dieckhoff (Institut d'etudes politiques, Paris), Louis Dupont (Sorbonne University), Enric Fossas (Unversitat Autonoma de Barcelona), Alain-G. Gagnon (Universite du Quebec a Montreal), Liah Greenfeld (Boston University), Andre Lecours (Ottawa University), John Loughlin (St Edmund's College, Cambridge, and Cambridge University), and Genevieve Nootens (Universite du Quebec a Chicoutimi).

In light of a renewed interest in the study of nationalism, Contemporary Majority Nationalism brings together a group of major scholars committed to making sense of this widespread phenomenon. To better illustrate the reality of majority nationalism and the way it has been expressed, authors combine analytical and comparative perspectives. In the first section, contributors highlight the paradox of majority nationalism and the ways in which collective identities become national identities. The second section offers in-depth case study analyses of France, the United Kingdom, Spain, Canada, and the United States. This book is an international project led by three members of the Research Group on Plurinational Societies based at Universite du Quebec a Montreal. Contributors include James Bickerton (St-Francis Xavier University), Angel Castineira (ESADE - Escuela superior de administracion y direccion de empresas), John Coakley (University College Dublin), Alain Dieckhoff (Institut d'etudes politiques, Paris), Louis Dupont (Sorbonne University), Enric Fossas (Unversitat Autonoma de Barcelona), Alain-G. Gagnon (Universite du Quebec a Montreal), Liah Greenfeld (Boston University), Andre Lecours (Ottawa University), John Loughlin (St Edmund's College, Cambridge, and Cambridge University), and Genevieve Nootens (Universite du Quebec a Chicoutimi).