Benno Teschke

Benno Teschke (born 1967 ) is Reader ( Associate Professor ) for international relations theory at the University of Sussex. He represents the approach of ' political Marxism " and in particular with the 2003 book The Myth of 1648: Class taken care of, Geopolitics and the Making of Modern International Relations ( German 2007) an international sensation.

Theoretical positions

His analysis approach for geopolitical systems is based on social ownership and rejects the " primacy of foreign policy " from. The central thesis of his book is the critique of the " myth of 1648 ", so the assertion that the Westphalian system was created, the system of modern nation-states. On the other hand, as Teschke, a double transition from feudalism to a modern state system must be stated: there is a transition from feudalism to " Pluriversum " dynastic pre-modern states on the European continent. For this transition the date 'm 1648th And there is a transition from this system of dynastic States to modern states system. This conversion is done starting from the onset of the 17th century English capitalism.

While the specific form of modern states ( monopoly of power, separation of violence and appropriation, depersonalization of the domination property, the emergence of a market economy) from the ownership of the separation of the direct producers can be explained by their means of production ( and not from the absolutism of the states of the Westphalian system) can not be explained from the capitalism of the specific structure of the territorial law in Europe and was from the first transformation ( feudalism in dynastic territories) to explain.