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Legal Positivization and Sovereign Recognition: A Comparative Analysis of Japan and the Ottoman Empire

Adébo, Adam LU and Tahir, Okan LU (2026) STVK04 20261
Department of Political Science
Abstract (Swedish)
Renewed scholarly interest in the category of history within the field of International Relations has prompted a revival of the so-called English School and its analytic emphasis on the concept of international society. This study examines the expansion of nineteenth century European international society through the theory of legal reception applied to the cases of Japan and the Ottoman empire. Methodologically the study employs sequential process tracing and the Millian logic of difference in order to gauge the power of legal reform as an independent variable in explaining Japanese success and Ottoman failure at entry into European international society. Our findings suggest that despite their varying degrees of success in their... (More)
Renewed scholarly interest in the category of history within the field of International Relations has prompted a revival of the so-called English School and its analytic emphasis on the concept of international society. This study examines the expansion of nineteenth century European international society through the theory of legal reception applied to the cases of Japan and the Ottoman empire. Methodologically the study employs sequential process tracing and the Millian logic of difference in order to gauge the power of legal reform as an independent variable in explaining Japanese success and Ottoman failure at entry into European international society. Our findings suggest that despite their varying degrees of success in their respective reform movements, legal reception alone cannot account for the outcome. The importance of European perceptions of the success of legal reforms in securing entry into international society suggests the need to develop a rudimentary analytic distinction within the theory of legal reception between legal reform at the level of substantial institutional change and legal reform at the level of perception. (Less)
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author
Adébo, Adam LU and Tahir, Okan LU
supervisor
organization
course
STVK04 20261
year
type
M2 - Bachelor Degree
subject
keywords
English School, international society, legal reception, legal positivization, Meiji Japan legal reform, Ottoman legal reform
language
English
id
9227453
date added to LUP
2026-06-16 11:14:00
date last changed
2026-06-16 11:14:00
@misc{9227453,
  abstract     = {{Renewed scholarly interest in the category of history within the field of International Relations has prompted a revival of the so-called English School and its analytic emphasis on the concept of international society. This study examines the expansion of nineteenth century European international society through the theory of legal reception applied to the cases of Japan and the Ottoman empire. Methodologically the study employs sequential process tracing and the Millian logic of difference in order to gauge the power of legal reform as an independent variable in explaining Japanese success and Ottoman failure at entry into European international society. Our findings suggest that despite their varying degrees of success in their respective reform movements, legal reception alone cannot account for the outcome. The importance of European perceptions of the success of legal reforms in securing entry into international society suggests the need to develop a rudimentary analytic distinction within the theory of legal reception between legal reform at the level of substantial institutional change and legal reform at the level of perception.}},
  author       = {{Adébo, Adam and Tahir, Okan}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Legal Positivization and Sovereign Recognition: A Comparative Analysis of Japan and the Ottoman Empire}},
  year         = {{2026}},
}