Polite Anarchy in International Relations Theory (The Palgrave Macmillan History of International Thought)

An innovative re-evaluation of the concept of anarchy in theorizing diplomacy between states which draws on a historically sensitive re-evaluation of the ideological uses of politeness in the anarchist thought of William Godwin. This book re-evaluates the concept of anarchy in International Relations by drawing on anarchist thought. It is the first scholarly work to draw on historical anarchism to construct an international theory premised on the idea of states as anarchists. It puts forward a constructivist account of state behavior, termed 'polite anarchy', to theorize diplomacy, an area of IR which is increasingly recognized within the discipline as being under-theorized, by drawing on a contextual historical study of the idiom of politeness in the anarchist thought of the late-Enlightenment British radical, William Godwin, generally considered to be the founder of modern philosophical anarchism. The book will be of interest to a wide range of scholars and students of International Relations, the history of political thought, international political theory and anarchism, as well as historians and practitioners in the field of diplomacy and Godwin scholars "This book re-evaluates the concept of anarchy in International Relations by drawing on anarchist thought. It is the first scholarly work to draw on historical anarchism to construct an international theory premised on the idea of states as anarchists. It puts forward a constructivist account of state behavior, termed 'polite anarchy', to theorize diplomacy, an area of IR which is increasingly recognized within the discipline as being under-theorized, by drawing on a contextual historical study of the idiom of politeness in the anarchist thought of the late-Enlightenment British radical, William Godwin, generally considered to be the founder of modern philosophical anarchism. The book will be of interest to a wide range of scholars and students of International Relations, the history of political thought, international political theory and anarchism, as well as historians and practitioners in the field of diplomacy and Godwin scholars"-- Provided by publisher Front Matter....Pages i-xiii Introduction: The Ideological Discourse of Anarchy....Pages 1-14 Front Matter....Pages 15-15 Revisiting Anarchism....Pages 17-50 Anarchism and International Theory....Pages 51-76 Front Matter....Pages 77-77 Contesting the State in 1790s Britain....Pages 79-101 The Polite Anarchist....Pages 103-138 Godwin’s International Thought....Pages 139-169 Front Matter....Pages 171-171 Polite Anarchy and Diplomacy....Pages 173-206 Conclusion....Pages 207-210 Back Matter....Pages 211-288