Statehood in a Post-Classical Interpretation

The author of the article analyzes the nature, concept and changes of statehood as a political and legal phenomenon. The purpose of the article is to conceptualize statehood in connection with its changes. The tasks to be solved in the article were: analysis of approaches that exist in modern science in relation to the description and explanation of statehood; demonstration of transformations of statehood in the modern world; formulation of the plurality of the foundations of statehood; clarification of the content of statehood. The research methodology is a postclassical research program developed by the author over the past twenty years. A distinction is made between the concepts of statehood and the state. The latter is one form of statehood. The author identifies other forms of statehood, such as tribe, chiefdom, polis, and other political organizations. Essential differences are demonstrated in the definition of statehood in modern post-classical legal science. It is shown that the classical approach to the analysis of statehood, which describes its formal aspect — social and legal statuses — is now proving to be limited and is supplemented by a non-classical approach. In methodological terms, they are associated with the recognition of multidimensionality, constant variability and contextuality of statehood, with the recognition of the plurality of its bases, from which its various forms and types derive. It is argued that the nation-state is not a universal phenomenon. There are other forms of statehood, in particular civilization states; their content characteristics are shown. Among the most important challenges facing modern statehood, the author identifies the problematization of the relationship between power and society, the increasing complexity of the political organization of society, the loss of control over the surrounding world, and the development of its technological nature. The essence of statehood in the situation of “new seriousness” is the informational mediation of the relationships between power and society.