Sovereignty claims hinge on genealogical parity with rival empires
Evidence
To say that France is the heir to the empire is also to say that because France is Rome’s sister or cousin, France has the same rights as Rome itself. It is to say that France is not part of some universal monarchy which, after the empire, dreamed of reviving the Roman Empire. France is just as imperial as all the Roman Empire’s other descendants; it is just as imperial as the German Empire, and is in no sense subordinate to any Germanic Caesar. No bond of vassalage can legitimately make it part of the Hapsburg monarchy and therefore subordinate it to the great dreams of a universal monarchy that it was promoting at this time. — Michel Foucault, Society Must Be Defended, 133
Categorization
- XREF: Shows the mechanism by which invented genealogy produces political independence claims; parallel to how nationalist origin-stories underwrite sovereignty in the Islamophobia field. — connects to: Nations claim antique dynasties to disguise their modern provenance. — Benedict Anderson, Imagined Communities: Reflections on…, 397; Shared-origin myths license a kingdom to inherit imperial sovereignty; Genealogy requires the removal of totalizing discourse’s tyranny — Michel Foucault, Society Must Be Defended, 27 (+1 more)
Related
- Shared-origin myths license a kingdom to inherit imperial sovereignty (similarity 0.86)
Broader Connections
- Genealogy requires the removal of totalizing discourse’s tyranny
#responds-to(0.75) — Michel Foucault, Society Must Be Defended, 27