Pluralistische Governance

Die Erforschung hansischer Kooperation jenseits von klassischen Staatskonzepten

Autor/innen

  • Sören Koch
  • Ulla Kypta
  • Johann Ruben Leiss

Abstract

This article discusses an approach which combines Hanse research
and the study of international public law for mutual benefit. Both disciplines
profit from closer cooperation. For decades Hanse historians have been
struggling to adequately conceptualise the interplay between Hanse towns,
Kontors, and merchants, as the execution of political and legal power in the
multidimensional configuration of the Hanse cannot be adequately explained
by applying the analogy of the “nation-state”. The legal and functional nature
of the Hanse has therefore been hard to grasp. A convincing concept has not
been developed yet. Scholars of public international law likewise push on
overcoming the focus on the “nation-state”. This focus on the state had become
prevailing in the wake of the new international order that emerged from the
Westphalian Peace, but cannot explain the multilevel governance structures
of a globalised international order.
The Hanse serves as an interesting historical example for complex coordination
between various more or less independent actors and institutions. We propose
studying Hanse cooperation using the conceptual framework of governance
as a fruitful way for both disciplines, the history of the Hanse and the study of
international public law. A functional approach helps avoiding anachronistic
ideas and references to structures coined by the nationstate; as we attempt
to demonstrate by comparing polycentric jurisdiction in the Hanse and in
contemporary international law.

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Veröffentlicht

2024-11-06