European empiresglobal history of lawimperial spaceinternational lawsovereignty
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Abstract (AI)
A Search for Sovereignty approaches world history by examining the relation of law and geography in European empires between 1400 and 1900. Lauren Benton argues that Europeans imagined imperial space as networks of corridors and enclaves, and that they constructed sovereignty in ways that merged ideas about geography and law. Conflicts over treason, piracy, convict transportation, martial law, and crime created irregular spaces of law, while also attaching legal meanings to familiar geographic categories such as rivers, oceans, islands, and mountains. The resulting legal and spatial anomalies influenced debates about imperial constitutions and international law both in the colonies and at home. This study changes our understanding of empire and its legacies and opens new perspectives on the global history of law.
Key Findings
1
Conflicts involving treason, piracy, convict transportation, martial law, and crime produced irregular legal spaces within empires.
2
European empires between 1400 and 1900 imagined imperial space as networks of corridors and enclaves rather than continuous territorial units.
3
Legal and spatial anomalies influenced debates over imperial constitutions and international law in both colonies and European metropoles.
4
Rivers, oceans, islands, and mountains acquired specific legal meanings that shaped imperial governance.
5
Sovereignty was constructed through the fusion of geographic concepts and legal categories across imperial spaces.
Research Object
European empires (1400–1900)
Research Subject
The construction and spatial-geographic organization of imperial sovereignty through the interaction of law and geography, including irregular legal spaces and their influence on imperial constitutions and international law
Publication Details
Publication Date
2009-11-30
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