Systems, Relations, and the Structures of International Societies

Download or read book Systems, Relations, and the Structures of International Societies written by Jack Donnelly and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2023-11-02 with total page 485 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Inspired by recent work in evolutionary, developmental, and systems biology, Systems, Relations, and the Structures of International Societies sketches a robust conception of systems that grounds a new conception of levels (of organization, not merely analysis). Understanding international systems as multi-level multi-actor complex adaptive systems allows explanations of important features of the world that are inaccessible to dominant causal and rationalist explanatory strategies. It also develops a comprehensive critique of IR's dominant conception of systems and structures (narrow, rigid, and unfruitful); presents a novel conception of the interrelationship of the social production of continuities and the social production of change; and sketches models of spatio-political structure that cast new light on the development of international systems, including a distinctive account of the nature of globalization.