Inside/outside: international relations as political theory

TLDR

Rob Walker analyzes the relationship between twentieth‑century international‑relations theories and the political theory of civil society since the early modern period. The book examines international‑relations theories through debates on modernity, post‑modernity, sovereignty, political identity, and the limits of modern social and political theory. Walker argues that international‑relations theories are ideological expressions of the modern state and better understood as aspects of contemporary world politics, highlighting the challenges of conceptualizing a rapidly accelerating global order.

Abstract

In this book Rob Walker offers an original analysis of the relationship between twentieth-century theories of international relations, and the political theory of civil society since the early modern period. He views theories of international relations both as an ideological expression of the modern state, and as a clear indication of the difficulties of thinking about a world politics characterized by profound spatiotemporal accelerations. International relations theories should be seen, the author argues, more as aspects of contemporary world politics than as explanations of contemporary world politics. These theories are examined in the light of recent debates about modernity and post-modernity, sovereignty and political identity, and the limits of modern social and political theory. This book is a major contribution to the field of critical international relations, and will be of interest to social and political theorists and political scientists, as well as students and scholars of international relations.