In recent years, the English School or international society approach to International Relations has risen to prominence because its theories and concepts seem able to help us explain some of the most complex and seemingly paradoxical features of contemporary world politics. In doing so, the approach has attracted a variety of criticisms from both ends of the political spectrum. Some argue that the claim that states form an international society is premature in an era of terrorwhere power politics and the use of force have returned to the fore. Others insist that international society's state-centrism make it an inherently conservative approach unable to address many of the world's most pressing problems.International Society and its Critics provides the first in-depth study of the English School approach to International Relations from a variety of different theoretical and practical perspectives. Sixteen leading scholars from three continents critically evaluate the School's contribution to the study of international theory and history; consider its relationship with a variety of alternative perspectives including international political economy, feminism, environmentalism, andcritical security studies; and assess how the approach can help us to make sense of the big issues of the day such as terrorism, the management of cultural difference, global governance, the ethics of coercion, and the role of international law. They find that whilst the concept of international society helps toshed light on many of the important tensions in world politics, much work still needs to be done. In particular, the approach needs to broaden its empirical scope to incorporate more of the issues and actors that shape global politics; draw upon other theoretical traditions to improve its explanations of change in world politics; and recognize the complex and multi-layered nature of the contemporary world.
Providing an indispensable guide for all students of IR theory, from advanced undergraduates to academic specialists, it asks why are these works considered classics? Is their status deserved? Will it endure?
This book provides an introduction to, and analysis of, the English School’s views on International Relations as they developed from the somewhat vague state/society distinction to the present focus on foundation institutions, regional ...
Neorealism is the school of international relations that emphasizes the role of inter-state power struggles in world affairs.This volume features essays by both its most prominent exponents and its principal critics.
This text presents a series of case studies - including classical Greece, Renaissance Italy and the Portuguese and Spanish empires - to show how the historical-materialist analysis of societies is a better guide to understanding global ...
Hall, I. (2006) The International Thought of Martin Wight (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan). Halliday, F. (1987) 'State and Society in International Relations', Millennium: Journal of International Studies, 16(2): 215–29. Halliday ...
A critical appreciation of the development of the international society idea and its influence on and relation to the development of the international relations theory. A critical look is taken...
For Goldsmith and Posner, widespread cosmopolitan sentiment does not exist to change the state's understanding of solidarity (ibid., p. 212). Democratic state agents (leaders) are beholden to their principals (the voters).
This volume examines how far The Anarchical Society continues to illuminate world politics and how well Bull's method and argument stand up today.
Bringing together leading scholars from Asia, Australia, Europe, and the United States, this book provides an alternative account: it draws out the diversity of polities that existed at around c1500; it shows how interacting identities, ...
1 Åhman, Joachim, Trade Liberalisation, Health Protection, and the Burden of Proof in WTO Law (Göteborg: Handelshögskolan vid Göteborgs universitet, 2011), p. 104; Tallberg and McCall Smith, 2012, pp. 2–3. 2 Finlayson and Zacher, 1983, ...