In 2008, a giant yellow sculpture of the word ‘NEWBORN’ was built to celebrate Kosovo's independence. Every year, the designer repaints it to express a new theme, but his messaging is often challenged by anonymous pranks and other interventions. Creating uncertainty over NEWBORN's legitimacy and who has the right to repaint it, these contestations are significant because they echo the uncertainty over the Kosovo state, whose sovereignty is also in dispute. By analysing the relationship between the politics of the sculpture and the politics of the state, the article argues that the disruptions to NEWBORN not only reflect but also reconstitute Kosovo's sovereignty. Although it is generally viewed as the capacity of a state to self-govern, by conceptualising sovereignty as recognition, authority and agency, the article demonstrates how citizens' agency transcends the state and the basis of its rule.

中文翻译：

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近乎主权：科索沃的新生雕塑和国家的不确定性

2008 年，为庆祝科索沃的独立，建造了一个巨大的黄色雕塑“NEWBORN”。每年，设计师都会重新粉刷它以表达一个新的主题，但他的信息经常受到匿名恶作剧和其他干预的挑战。这些争论对 NEWBORN 的合法性以及谁有权重新粉刷它的合法性造成不确定性，意义重大，因为它们与科索沃国家的不确定性相呼应，其主权也存在争议。文章通过分析雕塑政治与国家政治之间的关系，认为对新生儿的破坏不仅反映而且重建科索沃的主权。虽然它通常被视为一个国家的自治能力，但通过将主权概念化为承认、权威和代理，