Hybrid Sovereignty in World Politics

Argues that the global order is constructed from sovereign hybridity, where power flows without regard to public and private boundaries.

Swati Srivastava (Author)

9781009204507, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 8 September 2022

308 pages
23.5 x 15.7 x 2.2 cm, 0.6 kg

'…Srivastava has written a thoughtful and intelligent study, compulsory reading for anyone with an interest in sovereignty and the relations between public and private authority. And while not designed specifically for international lawyers, Srivastava's study nonetheless takes the law seriously enough to do justice to legal concerns whenever they arise. She does not ask the questions that lawyers would ask (about competences, governance structures or accountability, to name a few), but she illuminates complex governance practices that might help the lawyer in answering lawyers' questions about these matters, and that is no small feat.' Jan Klabbers, European Journal of International Law

The idea of 'hybrid sovereignty' describes overlapping relations between public and private actors in important areas of global power, such as contractors fighting international wars, corporations regulating global markets, or governments collaborating with nongovernmental entities to influence foreign elections. This innovative study shows that these connections – sometimes hidden and often poorly understood – underpin the global order, in which power flows without regard to public and private boundaries. Drawing on extensive original archival research, Swati Srivastava reveals the little-known stories of how this hybrid power operated at some of the most important turning points in world history: spreading the British empire, founding the United States, establishing free trade, realizing transnational human rights, and conducting twenty-first century wars. In order to sustain meaningful dialogues about the future of global power and political authority, it is crucial that we begin to understand how hybrid sovereignty emerged and continues to shape international relations.

1. Hybrid sovereignty in international theory
2. Ideal-types of public/private hybridity
3. Hybrid sovereign empire in the English East India Company
4. Contracting American wars through Blackwater
5. Institutionalizing markets through the international chamber of commerce
6. Shadowing for Human Rights through amnesty international
7. Conclusions on Power and Responsibility in hybrid sovereignty.

Subject Areas: Corporate governance [KJR], Political ideologies [JPF], Comparative politics [JPB], Political science & theory [JPA], Politics & government [JP]