To be effective, sovereignty must be secured through force or consent by those living in a territory, and accepted externally by other sovereign states. To be legitimate, the sovereignty claim must have the consent of its people and accord with international human rights.

In Sovereignty: The Biography of a Claim, Peter H. Russell traces the origins of the sovereignty claim to Christian Europe and the attribution of sovereignty to God in the early Middle Ages. Transcending a narrow legal framework, he discusses sovereignty as a political activity including efforts to enshrine sovereignty within international law. Russell does not call for the end of sovereignty but makes readers aware of its limitations. While sovereignty can do good work for small and vulnerable peoples, it cannot be the basis of a global order capable of responding to the major existential threats that threaten our species and our planet.

A brisk, often humorous, and personal exploration, Sovereignty: The Biography of a Claim will interest specialists and general readers alike, offering fresh insights on the limitations of sovereignty and the potential of federalism to alleviate these limitations now and in the future.

Peter H. Russell presents an accessible, historically-informed biography of the sovereignty claim, explores its limitations as well as ways of transcending them through the division of powers found within federal states.

  • Imprint: University of Toronto Press
  • Published: February 2021
  • Pages: 192

Peter H. Russell is a professor emeritus of political science at the University of Toronto.>

"It is wry, fast-moving and instructive…Sovereignty casts a bright light on platitudes that dominate official discourse on First Nations. The result is absorbing."

Holly Doan

Blacklock’s Reporter

"Sovereignty: The Biography of a Claim provides a nuanced… approach to nation-state claims of sovereignty that serve as a useful contrast to Indigenous and emerging articulations of self-determination, thus underscoring the relationships at stake in such claims and the practices these claims foster."

Jim Miranda, Bentley University

Transmotion

“Much wisdom is distilled in this elegant book. An accessible primer on a key political concept, it also sheds much light on the continuing quest for self-rule by repressed and marginalized peoples around the world. At the same time, it provokes timely debate on the future structure of global governing institutions. A remarkable achievement reflecting an exemplary lifetime of seminal scholarship and practical experience.”

Louis W. Pauly, FRSC, J. Stefan Dupré Distinguished Professor of Political Economy, University of Toronto

"If you care about Canada’s relationship with Indigenous peoples, then you need to understand the central importance of the term ‘sovereignty.’ This biography of the idea is a terrific place to start."

Robert Vipond, professor of Political Science, University of Toronto

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