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(RE)THINKING THE STATE IN THE 21ST CENTURY

Abstract. In this article, we argue that social sciences generally
and political science in particular are faced with
a peculiar epistemological challenge while researching
the state in the 21st century. Namely, the state has often
been either naturalised, seen as a static and ahistorical
entity resistant to changes in the environment, or naïvely
rejected as a form of political organisation that is
with neoliberal globalisation withering away. In either
instance, the processes of redefining and redistributing
of the state, and hence its de-/reterritorialising and rescaling,
have largely gone unnoticed. Our analysis reassesses
the hegemonic theories of state and shows that in
the mainstream of political science research on the state
is still anchored to the (geographical) assumptions that
limit or even define the state and its exercise of power
to a geographically demarcated and fixed territory.
Drawing on recent approaches to space, scale and territory,
this article calls for a heterodox and pluralist methodology
in further research on state as well as non-state
spaces.
Keywords: the state, non-state spaces, globalisation, territory,
political geography