Sovereignty and Contestation

For centuries, western political thought has addressed the problem of pluralism primarily through the prism of state sovereignty. Sovereignty and Contestation explores how contemporary pluralism is shaped by concepts of state sovereignty and how particular practices of pluralism are challenging sovereignty in turn.

The book presents a unique comparison of Indigenous/Settler relations in Canada with Union/State relations in the European Union. By placing ndigenous peoples alongside European nations as equal agents in a transnational field of action, the book connects disparate literatures on sub-state and supra-state pluralism.

Using an interdisciplinary and practice-centred approach, Keith Cherry explores how political, legal, and economic practices co-generate unique blends of sovereignty and pluralism in each setting, offering an account of pluralism that significantly expands on traditional political science accounts.

Ultimately, the book identifies two sets of practices that have played key roles facilitating pluralism in both Canada and Europe – interpenetrating institutions and conditional authority claims. Cherry considers the conditions under which these practices are most likely to emerge and to flourish. He concludes that such practices are most successful where all parties can contest the terms and content of their relationships, and where all parties need one another. In doing so, Sovereignty and Contestation highlights how contestability and mutual need provide novel criteria through which practices of pluralism can be assessed and developed.