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Pluralism in international political theory

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 October 2009

Robert H. Jackson
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Extract

Martin Wight once claimed there was no international political theory worthy of the name. In this I believe he was mistaken. But he also maintained, as Benedict Kingsbury and Adam Roberts put it, that ‘the most fundamental question you can ask in international theory is, What is international society? Hedley Bull likewise drew a basic distinction, as several contributors to the volume edited by J. D. B. Miller and the late R. J. Vincent remind us, between the system of states and the society of states. Each of these volumes takes up Wight's question and explores Bull's distinction in various ways, most of them engaging and enlightening. For an overview of the main approaches and controversies in the study of normative international relations today one could scarcely do better than consult them.

Type
Review Articles
Information
Review of International Studies , Volume 18 , Issue 3 , July 1992 , pp. 271 - 281
Copyright
Copyright © British International Studies Association 1992

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References

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