Sovereignty and the UFO
Alexander Wendt, Raymond Duvall
Political Theory, Vol. 36, No. 4
Summary
Landmark political theory paper arguing UAP represents a fundamental challenge to anthropocentric state sovereignty. Explains the institutional taboo around UAP through structural political analysis - states cannot acknowledge what they cannot explain without undermining their claim to rational authority - rather than through conspiracy. The most-cited social science paper on UAP and a foundational reference for understanding why governments resist disclosure.
Abstract
Modernity is anthropocentric, constituted and organized by reference to human beings alone. This has political implications, which become clear when we ask why the possibility that Earth might be visited by extra-terrestrial life (ETL) is not taken seriously in world politics. The question is never asked in mainstream discourse, even as a serious possibility. Drawing on sovereignty theory, we argue that this is because taking UFOs seriously would challenge the anthropocentric nature of modern sovereignty and the authority it gives states to speak for their subjects.
Citation
Alexander Wendt, Raymond Duvall. (2008). Political Theory. Vol. 36. No. 4. DOI: 10.1177/0090591708317902
https://doi.org/10.1177/0090591708317902Related Papers
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