Making law matter: environmental protection and legal institutions in Brazil

Abstract

Our understanding of international relations is greatly enhanced by recognizing the power of words, ideas, norms, and discourse in determining outcomes in the global arena.While we have long recognized how interests change when economic factors change, we have only begun to understand how interests can be reshaped by the emergence of new ideas that do not rest upon economic calculations.If actors can recalculate interests to include non-material gains such as moral and ethical "right-doing," there is much hope to coordinate actions in the global commons along common frames of understanding.The Power of Words in International Relations challenges mainstream IR theories and demonstrates how social power is redeªning global politics.In this way, Epstein's book breaks new ground and clears a path for further study of the ways in which ideational forces can overwhelm the power of material forces in the realm of international relations.