Introduction

Abstract Beginning with discussions of two China-centered world maps by Matteo Ricci, this introduction to the Theory Forum titled “Sovereignty, Postcoloniality, and the Global South” reflects on some of the ways that maps not only reflect a certain preexisting view of global relations, but they may also help shape or transform existing understandings of the world. The essay describes how the forum reexamines several models for understanding the network of national and territorial relationships that constitute the modern world. The forum is particularly interested in approaches that take as their starting point state-based notions such as theories of imperialism, decolonialism, and sovereignty, but also “theory from below” approaches that focus on how related concepts and relationships are experienced by ordinary people.