Temporal Sovereignty in Modern International Politics

This thesis explores the relationship that the rise to hegemony of a Western standardised measurement of time has with the contemporaneous rise of the Western concept of territorial sovereignty. How does this relationship continue to shape debates over sovereignty in modern international politics both between states and within them, and is the concept of ‘temporal sovereignty’ an underappreciated topic in the field of International Relations? First, it explains how the standardised measurement of time has evolved throughout history and the factors that helped to facilitate moves towards a measurement of time based on precision and coordination of human activities. Second, it examines the link between territorial sovereignty and the standardisation of the measurement of time focussing on the imperatives of standardisation and the role states have in this process. Third, it describes the international time system as it exists today to understand what are the ‘rules’ and to what extent states conform to them. Finally, it discusses the concept of ‘temporal sovereignty’ and how states can and do use the standardisation of time to affect, influence, or control resources and people in three particular case studies: Canada, the Russian Federation, and the People’s Republic of China.