Global assemblages and structural models of International Relations

Olaf Corry

Global assemblages and structural models of International Relations

Abstract

This chapter argues that 'assemblages', although rooted in a deep skepticism of grand theory, could also be useful for re-thinking structure and models of structure in international relations. IR models of structure usually restrict themselves to how subjects are ordered. The idea of an ordering principle that concerns objects as well as subjects has not been much considered. But what if not only subjects but also assemblages play a critical role in structuring international relations? I argue that ‘polities’ are basically constituted, not by the emergence of a hierarchy, but by the emergence of a common governance-object and that a ‘global polity’ is therefore a situation where actors orient themselves toward the governing of specifically global governance-objects.

Originalsprog	Engelsk
Titel	Reassembling International Theory : Assemblage Thinking and International Relations
Redaktører	Michele Acuto, Simon Curtis
Antal sider	18
Udgivelsessted	Basingstoke
Publikationsdato	2014
Sider	48-56
Kapitel	6
ISBN (Trykt)	978-1-137-38396-9
Status	Udgivet - 2014

Citationsformater

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abstract = "Rather than consigning assemblages to the micro-politics of international relations, the chapter argues that assemblages can also be seen to play a role in the {\textquoteleft}grand{\textquoteright} structures of international relations. Structural IR theory normally only considers how subjects are ordered – hierarchically, anarchically, in core-periphery relations or in terms of networks. However, not only subjects but also assemblages – the bringing together of previously unconnected elements into novel constellations – play a critical role in structuring international relations. More specifically, one sub-category of assemblages – those constructed as malleable and governable which I call {\textquoteleft}governance-objects{\textquoteright} – is central to structure in international relations. The chapter begins with standard definitions of what structures are – patterns of interaction between elements – and briefly covers the range of models currently used to simplify different structures. Next the chapter points to the blindness of most structural theories of IR to the role of assemblages in general and governance-objects in particular. Thirdly, the idea that a polity is constituted precisely by the assemblage of a governance-object – the construction of something considered governable and worthy of governance – is advanced, suggesting that whereas anarchy is what states make of each other, a global polity is what actants render simultaneously governable and global. ",

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AB - Rather than consigning assemblages to the micro-politics of international relations, the chapter argues that assemblages can also be seen to play a role in the ‘grand’ structures of international relations. Structural IR theory normally only considers how subjects are ordered – hierarchically, anarchically, in core-periphery relations or in terms of networks. However, not only subjects but also assemblages – the bringing together of previously unconnected elements into novel constellations – play a critical role in structuring international relations. More specifically, one sub-category of assemblages – those constructed as malleable and governable which I call ‘governance-objects’ – is central to structure in international relations. The chapter begins with standard definitions of what structures are – patterns of interaction between elements – and briefly covers the range of models currently used to simplify different structures. Next the chapter points to the blindness of most structural theories of IR to the role of assemblages in general and governance-objects in particular. Thirdly, the idea that a polity is constituted precisely by the assemblage of a governance-object – the construction of something considered governable and worthy of governance – is advanced, suggesting that whereas anarchy is what states make of each other, a global polity is what actants render simultaneously governable and global.

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Global assemblages and structural models of International Relations

Abstract

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Citationsformater