Sociology and international relations: legacies and prospects

Lawson, George; Shilliam, Robbie

doi:10.1080/09557570903433647

Cited by 29 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 62 publications

(44 reference statements)

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“…Perhaps the clearest examples of entanglement have been identified in the study of empire in International Relations and sociology (Bhambra , ; Go , ; Hobden and Hobson ; Lawson and Shilliam ; Steinmetz ). In these literatures, empire is more than a past historical episode, or even a latter‐day revival of empire in light of the post‐Cold War reality of US global dominance.…”

Section: State‐space Beyond Territorymentioning

confidence: 99%

State‐Space beyond Territory: Wormholes, Gravitational Fields, and Entanglement

Neep¹

2016

J Historical Sociology

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Neo-Weberian historical sociology and political science establishes that territory is a defining feature of the modern state. Drawing on insights from political geography, I argue that 'territory' is not a pre-existing physical location, but an effect produced by state practices and technologies. The spatial fetish of territory, moreover, distracts analytical attention from the equally important non-territorial dimensions of the state. To map these new and unfamiliar dimensions, I propose three analogies from the study of physics -wormholes, gravitational fields, and quantum entanglement -as powerful conceptual devices with the potential to reorient social scientists towards a fuller understanding of state-space. ***** In one sense, historical sociology has long conceptualized the emergence and consolidation of the modern state in terms that are profoundly, and quite explicitly, spatial. Weber's (1991) classic definition, after all, emphasizes that the state must claim its monopoly of legitimate violence within a given territory. This identification of state and territory was subsequently taken up by numerous historical sociologists and comparative political scientists of the second wave (Evans et al. 1985;Skocpol 1979; Tilly 1975b), who found in Weber's writings the basis of a more adequate framework for understanding statesociety relations than that adopted by either their neo-Marxist or liberal pluralist contemporaries. In positing the state to be a territorially organised body of institutions that had the potential for autonomy from society, neo-Weberians established a conceptual agenda that to this day continues to inform the study of state formation in comparative-historical political science and sociology.The well-established military-fiscal model of state formation elaborated by second-wave historical sociologists -and enthusiastically adopted by historically minded political scientists (Vu 2010) -has accorded territory a critical importance in its accounts of the making of modern states. In neo-Weberian studies of the intra-state dynamics of military competition in Europe inspired by the early work of Tilly (1975bTilly ( , 1985Tilly ( , 1992 e.g. Downing 1992;Ertman 1997;Rasler and Thompson 1989), warfare is held to explain the emergence of modern states as mutually exclusive, sovereign spatial units from a complex morass of overlapping and interwoven medieval jurisdictions The acquisition of territories through embattled expansion is here a principal rather than peripheral factor in state formation: the state emerges as both cause and effect of struggles in, for, and over territory. Scholars such as Mann (1984; 2012a; 2012b) and Giddens (1987), moreover, who focus on the domestic sources of state power, explore how state autonomy derives from its powers of internal pacification, infrastructural penetration, and bureaucratic regulation. They similarly highlight that the most crucial factor in generating infrastructural power is the state's unique ability to organize, order, and control the terr...

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Section: State‐space Beyond Territorymentioning

confidence: 99%

State‐Space beyond Territory: Wormholes, Gravitational Fields, and Entanglement

Neep¹

2016

J Historical Sociology

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“…Among the many points that are raised by the interaction between IR and HS, we believe the following three are especially relevant when examining the crisis in the Middle East: the need to escape essentialism; Euro‐centrism; and methodological nationalism (Bhambra, ; Chernilo, ; Matin, ; Wimmer & Glick‐Schiller, ). HS in IR (Hobden, ; Lawson, , ; Lawson & Shilliam, ; Rosenberg, ) has produced important work in these directions, and the Middle East as a region (Halliday, ; Hoffmann & Cemgil, ; Matin, )has already been the focus of some of these works. Yet much empirical research is still needed not only to grasp the current crisis in all its path‐dependencies but also to further the HS research agenda in new directions.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Admittedly, HS is a very diverse research programme (Lawson & Shilliam, 2010;Nexon, Hobden, & Hobson, 2003) and this diversity only increases when it is practiced alongside the paradigms of other disciplinary venues, such as the International Relations (IR). Among the many points that are raised by the interaction between IR and HS, we believe the following three are especially relevant when examining the crisis in the Middle East: the need to escape essentialism; Euro-centrism; and methodological nationalism (Bhambra, 2010;Chernilo, 2010;Matin, 2012b;Wimmer & Glick-Schiller, 2002).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

The International from the perspectives of Gezi Protestors

Akder¹,

Altunışık²

2018

J Historical Sociology

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Gezi Protests that started in Istanbul and spilled over to other cities in the Spring of 2013 has been regarded as an important episode of Turkish politics in the 21st century. Although it happened in congruous with protests movements in different localities in the world as well as significant transformations in Turkey's foreign policy, the question of the influence of the international in these protests has been largely unexplored. This paper presents the empirical findings of a fieldwork on Gezi Protests, asking the following questions: What was the perception of the actors on the neighbouring as well as geographically distant uprisings that were congruous in time? How do they perceive the roles of domestic and international politics in shaping the agenda of their movements?

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“…1 (2000): 43-76; Lawson, George & Robbie Shilliam, “Sociology and international Relations: Legacies and Prospects,” Cambridge Review of International Affairs 23, no. 1 (2010): 69-86; Sylvester, Christine, “The Elusive Arts of Reflexivity in the ‘Sciences’ of International Relations,” Millennium 41, no. 2 (2013): 309-325.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Quantum Ambivalence

Sjoberg

2020

Millennium: Journal of International Studies

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My reading of quantum IR has always been in ambivalent, uncomfortable agreement, even if I could not articulate the reason for that ambivalence. This article confronts that ambivalence through reading Laura Zanotti’s Ontological Entanglements - an interesting and engaging book with which I largely agree, and read ambivalently. It brings the reader along on my reading of Ontological Entanglements, engaging my ambivalence and explicitly relating the some of the book’s key claims to feminist work on ontology and epistemology. It continues to explore the potential pitfalls with quantum approaches to IR through their manifestations in Ontological Entanglements. The article concludes by engaging Ontological Entanglements from the complex position of simultaneously being impressed with the work and opposed to its promulgation.

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Sociology and international relations: legacies and prospects

Cited by 29 publications

References 62 publications

State‐Space beyond Territory: Wormholes, Gravitational Fields, and Entanglement

State‐Space beyond Territory: Wormholes, Gravitational Fields, and Entanglement

The International from the perspectives of Gezi Protestors

Quantum Ambivalence

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