The Legitimation Of New Orders

The contributors to this collection offer seven case studies that treat different aspects of political and ritual legitimation in China and Europe over the past two millennia. With a primary focus on crisis and change, the contributors analyze how rulers and states work to produce a popular political consensus that accepts their rule.

The new edition of this classic text provides a comprehensive introduction to the concept of legitimacy as applied to political systems. Now addressing the issue of legitimacy beyond the state, the book also includes a new introduction and two major additional chapters which update the argument in the light of developments and debates.

The Northern Wei was a dynasty which originated outside China and ruled northern China when the south of China was ruled by a series of dynasties which originated inside China. Both during the time that the Northern Wei dynasty was in power and over many centuries subsequently, the legitimacy of the Northern Wei dynasty has been questioned. This book outlines the history of the Northern Wei dynasty, including its origins and the history of its southern rivals; considers the practices adopted by both the Northern Wei dynasty and its rivals to establish legitimacy; and examines the debates which preoccupied Chinese scholars subsequently. The book casts light on traditional ideas about legitimate rule in China, ideas which have enduring relevance as tradition continues to be very significant in contemporary China.

Rules set by global governance organizations affect communities across the world. Such organizations increasingly seek to obtain legitimacy in the eyes of groups beyond their member state elites. This book advances scholarly debate on the politics of legitimacy and legitimation in global governance. It brings together researchers from different subfields of International Relations in order to highlight trends and contradictions in the contemporary politics of legitimacy across areas of sustainable development, humanitarian relief, responsible investment, sustainable fisheries and labour standards. The chapters explore legitimation efforts by various forms of global governance bodies, such as intergovernmental organizations, public–private partnerships and fully private bodies. The book demonstrates that different governance forms beyond the nation state share deep legitimacy challenges and engage in continuous legitimation attempts. Questions on the audiences of such legitimation attempts are particularly pivotal in understanding the politics of legitimacy. Audiences are not predetermined but constituted through interaction between legitimation efforts and the reactions to those of targeted and other groups, mirroring broader global power relations. This book was published as a special issue of Globalizations.

Setting an agenda for a more holistic theory on the emergence, evaluation, and legitimation of novelty, this volume showcases how novelty emergence and novelty recognition correspond to two distinct phases of the journey of novelty, from the moment it is generated to the moment it takes root and propagates.

Master's Thesis from the year 2009 in the subject Law - Public Law / Constitutional Law / Basic Rights, grade: Pass (Original version), Queen Mary University of London, course: LL.M (Public Law), language: English, abstract: ‘Chinese characteristics’ has become a term commonly used to explain why China is different from the rest of the world. However, it has raised the question of whether China really is so different. In the field of constitutionalism, Sun Yat-Sen was the first Chinese politician who embraced Chinese characteristics and constructed the world’s first theory of democracy with ‘Chinese characteristics’ in the early twentieth century. His theory thus enlightens us on the question of whether China really is so different. Sun Yat-Sen’s theory of democracy consists of three notable ‘Chinese characteristics’ – the pentapartite separation of powers system, direct democracy with an institutional arrangement of representation, and the constitutional single party system. However, all of these ‘Chinese characteristics’ are rooted in Sun Yat-Sen’s misunderstanding of ‘Western’ democracy. It is even more troubling that the incompetent amendments made by Sun Yat-Sen, who was a physician, not only failed to democratise China, but also produced a permanent dictatorship in China. In addition, his allegation that China is different from the rest of the world is not substantiated by logic – any amendment which is based upon a misunderstanding of the original concept is logically false, regardless of who is the originator of the amendment.

This Fall 2013 (XI, 1) issue of Human Architecture: Journal of the Sociology of Self-Knowledge, is entitled and dedicated to “Conversations with Enrique Dussel on Anti-Cartesian Decoloniality and Pluriversal Transmodernity.” Despite the long established recognition and reputation of Dussel as the most prolific, creative, and influential living Latin American philosopher, a limited portion of his writings has hitherto appeared in English. Exiled to Mexico from his native Argentina more than 35 years ago, Dussel has written more than 70 books and hundreds of articles ranging from theology to history, from philosophy to politics. Increasing interest in his work has been emerging among students and educators interested in developing liberating social theories and philosophies from the Global South. The present volume is one emerging response among many to Dussel’s call for a “South-South Philosophical Dialogue” in order to advance the cause of decolonization and liberation of inner and global human realities. Contributors include: Enrique Dussel, Eduardo Mendieta, Oscar Guardiola-Rivera, Linda Martín Alcoff, Lewis R. Gordon, Ramón Grosfoguel (also as journal issue guest editor), Dustin Craun, Rehnuma Sazzad (including both her article and her review of the book of poetry by the Palestinian-American poet Lisa Suhair Majaj), Linda Weber, George Ciccariello-Maher (as journal issue guest editor), and Mohammad H. Tamdgidi (also as journal editor-in-chief). Human Architecture: Journal of the Sociology of Self-Knowledge is a publication of OKCIR: The Omar Khayyam Center for Integrative Research in Utopia, Mysticism, and Science (Utopystics). For more information about OKCIR and other issues in its journal’s Edited Collection as well as Monograph and Translation series visit OKCIR’s homepage.