{"id":1950,"date":"2017-12-12T10:25:09","date_gmt":"2017-12-12T16:25:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/c21\/?page_id=1950"},"modified":"2025-10-19T19:23:19","modified_gmt":"2025-10-20T00:23:19","slug":"art-of-the-state-conference","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/c21\/art-of-the-state-conference\/","title":{"rendered":"Art of the State conference"},"content":{"rendered":"

October 21 and 22, 2005<\/p>\n

\"Siba<\/a>
Siba Grovogui<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

On October 21 and 22 the Center held its major, two-day conference for 2005-06. Buck Professor of Chinese History Douglas Howland<\/strong> (Fellow 2004-05) was one of the organizers, together with Luise White<\/strong> (History, Florida). Following welcoming remarks by Vice Chancellor for Research and Dean of the graduate school Abbas Ourmazd<\/strong> and Center Director Daniel Sherman<\/strong>, the proceedings began with a keynote address by Siba Grovogui<\/strong> (Political Science, Johns Hopkins). Grovogui not only provided a rich historical and disciplinary overview of the uses of sovereignty, but also urged the audience to think about the many \u201cconstitutionally-unclaimed\u201d in today\u2019s world and how they will eventually \u201cdetermine on their own the conditions of their entry into the global sovereign compact.\u201d Grovogui\u2019s address was a fitting introduction to a conference seeking to link theoretical or scholarly work on sovereignty with today\u2019s social, economic, and political realities. In keeping with Center practice, all papers in subsequent sessions were pre-circulated so that more time could be devoted to discussion.<\/p>\n

\"Douglas<\/a>
Douglas Howland<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In the first panel, \u201cStates and Laws,\u201d Eileen Scully<\/strong> (Social Sciences, Bennington) used the story of the repatriation of so-called \u201cpauper lunatics\u201d in the late 19th century to raise broader questions about extraterritoriality and diplomatic protection of Americans traveling overseas.\u00a0Douglas Howland\u00a0<\/strong>addressed a related topic from approximately the same era, namely that of the treaties concluded between Western powers and the governments of Japan and China over jurisdiction questions regarding non-Chinese and non-Japanese sailors. In his larger work, Howland seeks to rethink international law as a (flawed) project of modernity. Mark Philip Bradley<\/strong> (History, Northwestern) presented research he worked on during a stint as a Center fellow in 2003. His paper examined the effects of international law in a domestic context, specifically the ways in which civil rights activists in postwar America used international covenants, such as the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights, to combat segregation at home. Bradley noted that this tactic also produced a backlash against what many saw as a threat to U.S. sovereignty; and as a result the U.S. became more wary of participating in international human rights law.<\/p>\n

The first day of the conference concluded with a panel on \u201cLaws about States.\u201d Luise White<\/strong> discussed the case of post-1965 Rhodesia as a way to think about sovereignty. Rhodesia at this time, White argued, was not really representative of a (former) colony, but it was not truly an independent state either. The international context of the time, White argued, is crucial for thinking about sovereignty, as the economic sanctions imposed on Rhodesia demonstrated. Sanctions both limited Rhodesia\u2019s sovereignty, and also forced the ruling economic and political classes to be \u201ccreative\u201d in subverting them, i.e. act independently (albeit also illegally). The second paper, by anthropologists Martha Kaplan<\/strong> (Vassar) and John Kelly<\/strong> (Chicago) explored the \u201clegal fictions used to constitute sovereignty in the nation-states of the UN world.\u201d The body of their paper discussed some of the unintended consequences of the U.S.-led effort in the 20th century to fashion a world of nation states moderated by U.S.-designed international institutions. Diaspora, \u201cleveling crowds,\u201d political armies, \u201cnew wars,\u201d and \u201cstrange wars\u201d (state military power challenged by a non-state actor employing global media to tell a moral tale) complicate traditional sovereignty in many countries around the world today.<\/p>\n

\"Aida<\/a>
Aida Hozic<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The second day, held at UWM\u2019s Hefter Conference Center, opened with a panel on \u201cStates and Outlaws.\u201d Aida Hozic<\/strong> (Political Science, Florida) discussed what she called the underlying tensions of sovereignty in the Balkans with a particular focus on the role of crime in states such as Bosnia-Herzegovina. She argued that crime, criminality, and the criminalization of cross-border practices and particular states are constitutive elements of sovereignty on the Balkans today. In a paper entitled \u201cMedia and the Sovereign Police,\u201d Thomas Lamarre<\/strong> (East Asian Studies, Cornell) presented work on the nature of Japanese animation and its power both to reflect and shape reality. Focusing especially on the films of Oshii Mamoru and the writings of Giorgio Agamben, Lamarre explored the contingency of concepts of authority and sovereignty in 21st-century popular culture and politics.<\/p>\n

\"Fred<\/a>
Fred Cooper<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The next panel focused on \u201cQuestions of Territory.\u201d Aims McGuinness<\/strong> (History, UWM, Fellow 2003-04) discussed the close links between sovereignty in 19th-century Latin America, United States policies, and activities by private U.S. individuals and organizations. Latin American intellectuals tried to imagine a genuinely sovereign space, \u201cAm\u00e9rica Latina,\u201d in response to U.S. intervention, thus creating what would later emerge as the concept for a distinct geopolitical region. Fred Cooper<\/strong> (History, NYU) presented his work on the post-World War II French empire and nation under the title \u201cAlternatives to Empire: France and Africa after World War II.\u201d He argued that the French empire at the time, including metropolitan France, was a layered and shared entity whose destiny\u2014and distribution of sovereignty\u2014was very much an open question in 1945. The ultimate outcome\u2014independence for the African parts while France itself integrated with the wider European community\u2014was not a given, least of all for the French and West African leaders involved. Finally, Kevin Dunn<\/strong> (Political Science, Hobart & William Smith) explored how the creation and utilization of national parks have been connected to the evolution of state sovereignty in the African Great Lakes region, specifically Uganda, Rwanda, and Congo. Echoing other speakers, Dunn argued that \u201cin the 21st century, the political-territorial foundation of Westphalian sovereignty increasingly appears to be in crisis.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Keith<\/a>
Keith Brown<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The final panel, \u201cQuestions of Populations,\u201d also consisted of three papers. Leonard Smith<\/strong> (History, Oberlin) presented a paper on \u201cSovereignty and Wilsonian Idealism in the Middle East: The King-Crane Commission of 1919.\u201d More than the story of a campaign contributor and college president put in charge of reconfiguring the Middle East, Smith\u2019s paper was a reminder of the transitionary nature of the post-World War I moment. Westerners now assumed quasi-sovereignty in the Middle East through League of Nations mandates, and tried to determine what groups were entitled to their own states (and ultimately sovereignty), while realizing that time was not on the West\u2019s side in the region. David Tucker<\/strong> (History, Iowa) explored the status of Manchukuo in the early 20th century, focusing on the motives and practices of Japan, Manchukuo\u2019s founder. Tucker argued that while Japanese motives were not always very clear, Manchukuo\u2019s story needs to be viewed in the context of Japan\u2019s imperial competition with Western imperial powers. The final speaker took the participants back to the Balkans. In a paper entitled \u201cSovereignty after Socialism at Europe\u2019s New Borders,\u201d Keith Brown<\/strong> (International Studies, Brown) investigated the prospects for sovereignty in Macedonia after the uprising of 2001. Considering three \u201cscripts\u201d\u2014reformist, nationalist, and criminal\u2014Brown concluded that the precise nature of insurgent motives remains open to interpretation, but that in any case answers ought to be sought within Macedonian society, by paying \u201cclose attention to the micropractices of sovereignty,\u201d and not through \u201cthe work of stereotype-construction by outside observers.\u201d<\/p>\n

A closing general discussion moderated by the two organizers was preceded by remarks by Robert Ricigliano<\/strong> (Institute of World Affairs, UWM) who commented on the conference proceedings from his experience in conflict mediation in Africa and the former Soviet Union. Throughout the two days, lively, engaged discussion among the speakers and other participants made \u201cArt of the State\u201d a provocative and intellectually stimulating event.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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