Oceania: Australia “Complicating Sovereignty: Situatedness, Space, Place”

Teaching International Relations theory almost invariably involves entering into dialogue about sovereignty and geographical space. In this essay, we argue that very little consideration is given to the concepts of sovereignty and space beyond the conventional disciplinary narrative that binds both space and sovereignty to the state. Further, we suggest that teaching International Relations theory from a situated perspective requires an elaboration of other place-based encounters with these core concepts. From our position as scholars of International Relations in Australia, necessarily working on lands over which Aboriginal sovereignty remains, and was never ceded, we elaborate both a critique of International Relations theory that ignores the function of coloniality in the theoretical architecture of the discipline, and an approach to International Relations theory that takes situatedness seriously. The approach that we offer is relational, and recasts the concepts of sovereignty and space within this framework. Ultimately, we make the case for a place-based analysis of, and theoretical encounter with, international relations.