| 1. |
- Hall, Martin
(författare)
-
Constructing Historical Realism : International Relations as Comparative History
- 1999
-
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- In this study the author seeks to develop Historical Realism as a new approach to International Relations. Drawing on recent theoretical developments in International Relations and Historical Sociology it is argued, first, that a distinction between constitutive and causal theory is necessary and, second, that this distinction makes comparisons at a high level of abstraction across time and space possible. The explanatory focus of Historical Realism is the political reproduction of states. States are seen as constantly facing a double security dilemma: it is being threatened, or potentially threatened, by two sets of rivals for revenue. At the level of abstraction of Historical Realism, states have two possible responses, short of collapse, to this double security dilemma. They can either pursue a fortifying mode of political reproduction, whereby the essence of their strategy is to prevent rivals from gaining strength. Alternatively, they can pursue an alliance-building mode of political reproduction, whereby they cooperate with or co-opt rivals, turning them into allies instead. Which response states’ choose depend on the constitutive context they exist in, and how this is changing. The constitutive context is conceptualised with four dichotomous dimensions. International systems, it is argued, can either be functionally differentiated or not, and political relations in these systems can either be embedded in economic relations or not. The societies from which states’ extract revenue can, further, either be competitive or not, and either logistically closed or open. The second part of the study develops this conceptual framework in the contexts of Japanese political reproduction towards the end of the nineteenth century, the political reproduction, and failure, of the Roman Republic, and political reproduction in early medieval western Europe.
|
|
| 2. |
- Hall, Martin
(författare)
-
International political economy meets historical sociology : problems and promises
- 1998
-
Ingår i: Cooperation and Conflict. - 0010-8367. ; 33:3, s. 257-276
-
Tidskriftsartikel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Mainstream International Political Economy (IPE) and Historical Sociology share a number of concerns. This has not, however, resulted in a significant body of historical IPE literature. It is argued that Historical Sociology poses two challenges for IPE, and that these must be accommodated before the field can become historically sensitive. The first concerns the ontology of historical IPE. Whereas mainstream IPE generally recognizes that states are not the only "units" in the international system, the challenge of Historical Sociology revolves around whether there are any relevant differentiations to be made in the concepts of "state" and "international system". The second challenge concerns the question of continuity and change, an issue that has not been the object of extensive conceptual analysis in mainstream IPE. While this article does not offer any specific way of historicizing mainstream IPE, it does suggest a few guidelines for such an enterprise.
|
|
