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State‐Space beyond Territory: Wormholes, Gravitational Fields, and Entanglement
Author(s) -
Neep Daniel
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
journal of historical sociology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.186
H-Index - 26
eISSN - 1467-6443
pISSN - 0952-1909
DOI - 10.1111/johs.12126
Subject(s) - wormhole , quantum entanglement , state (computer science) , sociology , politics , space (punctuation) , epistemology , gravitation , state space , theoretical physics , quantum , law , political science , physics , computer science , classical mechanics , philosophy , quantum mechanics , mathematics , statistics , algorithm , operating system
Neo‐Weberian historical sociology and political science establishes that territory is a defining feature of the modern state. Drawing on insights from political geography, I argue that ‘territory’ is not a pre‐existing physical location, but an effect produced by state practices and technologies. The spatial fetish of territory, moreover, distracts analytical attention from the equally important non‐territorial dimensions of the state. To map these new and unfamiliar dimensions, I propose three analogies from the study of physics ‐ wormholes, gravitational fields, and quantum entanglement ‐ as powerful conceptual devices with the potential to reorient social scientists towards a fuller understanding of state‐space.