Abstract

This article examines how the jurist Hans Kelsen conceptualized the notion of «world state» in the 1940s. The main argument is that Kelsen drew in his reflections on world state not only on his precedent iterations in legal theory, but also on midcentury visions for world state and global constitution that he encountered in the United States, where he emigrated to escape persecution in his native Austria. The article advances the claim that these American debates on world state are an important – yet hitherto ignored – intellectual context for understanding Kelsen’s political thought. Kelsen’s interpretation of the idea of «world state» as a foundation for a new political world order, offers a valuable lens through which to analyse spatial and political notions of the «global» and «globality» in the history of twentieth century political thought