TY - JOUR

T1 - Obstacles to a world state in the shadow of the world market

AU - Jessop, Bob

PY - 2012/6

Y1 - 2012/6

N2 - This article explores the obstacles to the development and operation of a world state that are rooted in functional differentiation of modern societies, the ecological dominance of the broadly capitalist world market, and the inherent tendencies of all forms of governance to fail. It also highlights the challenges to the temporal as well as territorial sovereignty of states, whatever their scale of operation, due to the acceleration as well as globalization of social relations. Combining insights from Niklas Luhmann and Karl Marx, the article develops some novel arguments aboutmulti-spatial metagovernance as an alternative approach to the problems posed by a world state as the guarantor of global social order.

AB - This article explores the obstacles to the development and operation of a world state that are rooted in functional differentiation of modern societies, the ecological dominance of the broadly capitalist world market, and the inherent tendencies of all forms of governance to fail. It also highlights the challenges to the temporal as well as territorial sovereignty of states, whatever their scale of operation, due to the acceleration as well as globalization of social relations. Combining insights from Niklas Luhmann and Karl Marx, the article develops some novel arguments aboutmulti-spatial metagovernance as an alternative approach to the problems posed by a world state as the guarantor of global social order.

KW - world society

KW - Marx

KW - Luhmann

KW - world state

KW - governance

KW - world market

U2 - 10.1177/0010836712443172

DO - 10.1177/0010836712443172

M3 - Journal article

VL - 47

SP - 200

EP - 219

JO - Cooperation and Conflict

JF - Cooperation and Conflict

SN - 1460-3691

IS - 2

ER -