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

280 pages
23.5 x 15.7 x 2.2 cm, 0.6 kg

'A challenging and provocative read, this is a groundbreaking work that, by offering a novel perspective, is a major contribution to traditional scholarship on this subject … Highly recommended.' D. Ettinger, Choice

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]