Search results for ""Author Peter Onuf""

In this thought-provoking analysis of international relations, the Onufs deepen our understanding of the law of nations in a world of profound change. Federal Union, Modern World relates the emergence of the modern concept of state-societies to the remarkable experiments in constitution-making in the United States and shows how efforts to model a federal union in America influenced the broader relations of European nation-states. Relying on ancient and early modern sources prominent in the minds of the Founders, the authors show how the idea of a federal union was applied to the nations of the world. This profound conceptual change in international relations sundered the law of nations from naturalism and grafted it into modern ideas of liberalism. The formation of the United States as federation, argue the Onufs, "expressed Enlightenment impulses . . . more fully than any contemporaneous developments in Europe." Furthermore, as the Founders attempted to secure a tenable position for their creation, they inspired a shift in international relations theory from natural legal doctrine to the positive law of states. This timely study of international union and disunion informs us as much about the decades of revolution as it does about the context of international relations in our own time.

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A sweeping historiographical collection, Reinterpreting Southern Histories updates and expands upon the iconic volumes Writing Southern History and Interpreting Southern History, both published by Louisiana State University Press. With nineteen original essays co-written by some of the most prominent historians working in southern history today, this volume boldly explores the current state, methods, innovations, and prospects of the richly diverse and transforming field of southern history. Two scholars at different stages of their careers coauthor each essay, working collaboratively to provide broad knowledge of the most recent historiography and an expansive vision for historiographical contexts. This innovative approach provides an intellectual connection with the earlier volumes while reflecting cutting-edge scholarship in the field. Underlying each essay is the cultural turn of the 1980s and 1990s, which introduced the use of language and cultural symbols and the influence of gender studies, postcolonial studies, and memory studies. The essays also rely less on framing the South as a distinct region and more on contextualizing it within national and global conversations. Reinterpreting Southern Histories, like the two classic volumes that preceded it, serves as both a comprehensive analysis of the current historiography of the South and a reinterpretation of that history, reaching new conclusions for enduring questions and establishing the parameters of future debates.

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