Constructing the Nation-State: International Organization and Prescriptive Action

Connie McNeely

Nov 1995 · Greenwood Publishing Group

About this ebook

This book analyzes the nation-state as part of a global political-cultural system. Considering theories on political life organized in terms of territories and sovereign authority and discussing how and why this became the preeminent form of political organization and authority throughout the world, it presents an exploration of the nation-state as a social construction. The author delves into an investigation of the impact of various aspects of international organization on nation-state structures and practices and, therefore, on the patterns and behaviors that constitute a world culture. Framed by world polity arguments, the nation-state is treated as a cultural object, with the international system as a cultural community giving it meaning, and shaping and defining its structures and practices.

About the author

CONNIE L. McNEELY is currently on the faculty in the Department of Sociology at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Her work has appeared in sociology and interdisciplinary journals, annuals, and edited volumes. She is presently editing a collection entitled Public Rights, Public Rules: Constituting Citizens in the World Polity and National Policy.