Deterritorialization and the modern state : the case of European integration

This thesis examines the impact of deterritorialization as an important dimension of globalization on the contemporary evolution of the modern state. The modern state has been a territorial phenomenon in the sense it has used strategical approaches to space in order to control it. The effective use of such strategies has enabled the modern state to achieve and maintain unprecedented degree of territoriality, that is a control over a physical space. However, with the rise of the trend of deterritorialization constituting the spatial logic of globalization, the territoriality of the modern state has become problematic. Thus the basic characteristics of the modern state, which have been founded in its territoriality, are being eroded under the effects of deterritorialization. The case of European Integration is analyzed to reveal the extent and scope of deterritorialization and to show how deterritorialization has challenged the territoriality of the modern state.