Does War Make States?
Investigations of Charles Tilly's Historical Sociology
Published on 2. March 2017
Book
Hardback
346 pages
978-1-107-14150-6 (ISBN)
Description
Arising from renewed engagement with Charles Tilly's canonical work on the relationship between war and state formation, this volume situates Tilly's work in a broader theoretical landscape and brings it into contemporary debates on state formation theory. Starting with Tilly's famous dictum 'war made the state, and the state made war', the book takes his claim further, examining it from a philosophical, theoretical and conceptual view, and asking whether it is applicable to non-European regions such as the Middle East, South America and China. The authors question Tilly's narrow view of the causal relationship between warfare and state-making, and use a positive yet critical approach to suggest alternative ways to explain how the state is formed. Readers will gain a comprehensive view of the most recent developments in the literature on state formation, as well as a more nuanced view of Charles Tilly's work.
Reviews / Votes
'This is an outstanding scholarly contribution - an important work well written and exhaustively researched ... it is a new take on historical sociology in general and the important questions that have defined it for the past thirty years.' Miguel A. Centeno, Princeton University, New Jersey 'Charles Tilly's claim that war-making helped state-building has long had the status of established truth. This superb collection offers several challenges - both in the European core and in other civilizations - that make us rethink matters. The book will, for sure, gain a wide readership.' John A. Hall, McGill University, MontrealMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
Cambridge
United Kingdom
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Illustrations
1 Tables, black and white
Dimensions
Height: 235 mm
Width: 157 mm
Thickness: 23 mm
Weight
652 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-107-14150-6 (9781107141506)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Lars Bo Kaspersen | Jeppe Strandsbjerg
Does War Make States?
Investigations of Charles Tilly's Historical Sociology
E-Book
03/2017
Cambridge University Press
€112.99
Available for download
E-Book
03/2017
Cambridge University Press
€93.99
Available for download
Persons
Lars Bo Kaspersen trained as a sociologist and is now a Professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Copenhagen, where he teaches history, politics and sociology. His research interests are in the transformation of the welfare state, the sociology of war and civil society. His most recent book is Denmark in the World (2013). Jeppe Strandsbjerg trained as a political scientist and is currently an Associate Professor in the Department of Business and Politics at Copenhagen Business School. His research interests are in arctic geopolitics and the spatiality of the sovereign territorial state. He has published articles in several journals, including Geopolitics and the Journal of Power.
Content
Introduction: state formation theory: status, problems, and prospects Lars Bo Kaspersen, Jeppe Strandsbjerg and Benno Teschke; Part I. Lineages: 1. After the 'Tilly-thesis': social conflict, differential state formation and geopolitics in the construction of the European system of states Benno Teschke; 2. Otto Hintze, Stein Rokkan and Charles Tilly's theory of European state-building Thomas Ertman; Part II. Challenges: 3. War and state formation: amending the Bellicist theory of state-making Hendrik Spruyt; 4. Beyond the Tilly thesis: 'family values' and state formation in Latin Christendom Philip Gorski and Vivek Sharma; Part III. Omissions: 5. The space of state formation Jeppe Strandsbjerg; 6. The realm as a European form of rule: unpacking the warfare thesis through the Holy Roman Empire Peter Halden; 7. War, conflict and the state reconsidered Vivek Sharma; Part IV. Vistas: 8. War and state in the Middle East: reassessing Charles Tilly in a regional context Dietrich Jung; 9. Beyond mere war: authority and legitimacy in the formation of the Latin American states Robert H. Holden; 10. How Tilly's state formation paradigm is revolutionising the study of Chinese state-making Victoria Hui.