Nationalism and International Society

Abstract

What is meant by international society? On what principles is the notion of international society based? How has the notion of nationalism influenced its evolution? In this book James Mayall addresses these questions and sheds important new light upon the issues of nation and international society by bringing together subjects which have hitherto been examined separately. Mayall locates his study within a theoretical discussion of the relationship between the ideas of nationalism and international society, maintaining that it is one of challenge and accommodation. He then explores three central issues. First, the manner in which nationalism has created new states and pushed the boundaries of international society outwards. Second, how the confrontation between nationalist and liberal ideas about international economic relations has impelled state activity downward into the lives of ordinary people and outward into the international political economy. And third, the way Third World nationalism has reacted against the postwar international economic order but has been unable to alter it in its favour. Nationalism and international society will be of interest to specialists and students of international relations with special reference to nationalism and sovereignty, and to modern historians of world order, decolonisation and economic nationalism.

The emergence of environmental stewardship as a primary institution of global international society

“…This makes it more comparable with nationalism, which as Mayall (1990;2000: 62-3) notes, integrated with, and in some ways disrupted, the existing set of primary institutions, changing their meaning and the practices associated with them.…”

A Viable Project of Solidarism? The Neglected Contributions of John Vincent's Basic Rights Initiative

“…But he seemed to lose faith in his earlier interpretation, 49 seeing economic nationalism returning on the back of national security concerns, and in his more recent works has largely refocused his attention toward nationalism. 50 As Buzan has argued, the cost to the English school of failing to make this link have been considerable. 51 By narrowing the debate down to human rights, it has impoverished the whole understanding of solidarism, and made it seem as if there has been much less solidarist development in international society than in fact has been the case.…”

Ethno-National Separatism in East Asia: The International Dimension

“…Self-determination has risen to become a universal principle, along with the idea of popular sovereignty, or the idea that in order to gain 'international legal sovereignty' you need the consent of the governed (29). The principle of self-determination has risen to become a prominent part of the norms and rules that shape the interaction between different actors within international society (30). This principle has a strong influence over the development and evolution of nationalisms, both those which aim to build a nation within an existing state and those that aim to forge a new independent territory for an ethnic group.…”