Bartelson's discussion of the suppositions and presuppositions of statehood is informed both historically and philosophically.

1. Forbidden impossibilities; 2. Unpacking the living museum: the state and the emergence of political science; 3. A plurality of monisms: throwing the state out; 4. An indivisible remainder: the state brought back in; 5. The limits of criticism: dissolving the state; 6. Possibilities permitted.