Mitranian functionalism: possible or impossible?

McLaren, Robert I.

doi:10.1017/s0260210500114275

Cited by 10 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…A well-rehearsed line of criticism accuses Mitrany’s functionalism of being technocratic and based on an overly consensual conception of politics (Long, 1993; McLaren, 1985; Pentland, 1973: Chapter 3). Few commentators discuss Mitrany specifically in relation to democracy, however.…”

Section: Functionalism and Democracymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Because they would advantage some and disadvantage others these choices would be contentious. And even if some needs could be prioritized uncontroversially, different means are often equally functional in satisfying a given need without there being ‘one best way’ (McLaren, 1985: 143). Cultural norms, ideology and material self-interest are among the factors that may help shape how different actors prefer to address a given need.…”

Section: Functionalism and Democracymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Critics variously accused international functionalism of being economically reductionist, apolitical, teleological and technocratic (Long, 1993; for a classic overview see Pentland, 1973: Chapter 3). Some deemed functionalism’s project of transferring powers from national governments to international technocrats outright ‘impossible’ (McLaren, 1985: 140) as they thought that it underestimated the resistance this would spark among national governments and mass publics alike.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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International functionalism and democracy

Theiler

2022

European Journal of International Relations

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International functionalism as proposed by David Mitrany envisions non-territorial functional agencies to supplant the states system. Mitrany makes no provision for democracy in functional agencies. Instead, he assumes that the policies of international technocrats would be ‘technically self-determined’ and uncontested – a stance several critics deem antidemocratic and naive. A second, related criticism holds that even if functional agencies were formally democratic, democracy could not operate effectively since functional polities would be too ‘thin’ and fragmented to sustain democratic commitments among their members. The article qualifies the first charge and rejects the second. First, defined as an institutional decision-making principle, ‘technical self-determination’ is Mitrany’s add-on to the underlying functionalist logic, not an inseparable part of it. That logic instead holds that institutions work best if their form and scope of authority follow their function and that function-specific agencies therefore could meet some needs better than the state. Contra Mitrany, this does not privilege technocratic over democratic decision-making and it does not imply that functional agencies would be free from political conflict. Nor, second, would functional agencies necessarily be unsuitable for democracy in practice. Several strands of democratic theory suggest that even people who do not share a ‘thick’ communal identity can develop a commitment to meet shared needs democratically. If one accepts this, it loosens functionalism’s technocratic stigma, highlights its potential as a democratically viable alternative to both state-centric and supranational models of international order and broadens our conception of possible democratic futures.

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Section: Functionalism and Democracymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Functionalism and Democracymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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International functionalism and democracy

Theiler

2022

European Journal of International Relations

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“…Mitrany era escéptico de entregar amplios poderes supranacionales a estos equipos de trabajo, su función en todo caso era crear experiencias y conocimientos para atender problemas muy específicos comunes a una región. Su oposición al supranacionalismo y al federalismo como mecanismos para llegar a la integración hicieron obsoleto su enfoque (McLaren, 1985).…”

Section: Marco Teóricounclassified

Los 16 comités del T-MEC y el funcionalismo

2022

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Como resultado de la acusación del gobierno de Estados Unidos acerca de que el tratado de Libre Comercio de América del Norte contribuía al desequilibrio comercial de ese país, se realizó la negociación del Tratado Comercial México Estados Unidos-Canadá en el 2017, a instancias de los EU se crearon 16 comités con el objetivo de supervisar lo pactado en él, aquí se discute, recurriendo a los enfoques funcionalistas, si estos comités pueden pasar de ser instrumentos de supervisión para propiciar realmente la integración comercial de la región. Se plantean recomendaciones acerca de cómo deberían actuar los funcionarios mexicanos en esos comités.

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“…But beyond these terminologies, ‘integrateness’ and ‘regionness’ are intellectual social forces that draw inspiration from the ‘democratic peace hypothesis’ as advanced by Levy (1994) as the link between liberalism and cooperation. David Mitrany’s (McLaren, 1985) functionalism is not a radical departure from this framework of thinking. On this account, there is a point of convergence between the RIT’s propositions and the institutionalist approaches to thinking regional integration.…”

Section: Regional Integration Theories: a Critical Appraisalmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dominatarian Theory of Regional Integration

Onditi

2020

Insight on Africa

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In this article an alternative thinking and methodological approach for the study of regional integration is proposed, addressing the limitations of classical regional integration theories and the new regionalism approach. A ‘dominatarian’ theory is introduced as an alternative analytical framework that exposes meanings attributed to a social force called ‘personness’, and how regions could be (re)constructed through this anthropocentric lens. The East African Community (EAC, henceforth referred to as the Jumuiya) is chosen as a tour de force for regional integration theories. The triadal analysis of the three main components of classical regional integration theories—economy, institutions and politics—reveals the deficiency of these frameworks in explaining the role of ‘personness’ in regional integration processes, especially within the African context. Consequently, the phrase ‘contextual misfitability’ has been coined to describe this condition. The article concludes with a reflection on how meanings are created and re-created from the Darwinian ontologies of natural sciences into social science regimes and its application to regional integration studies.

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Mitranian functionalism: possible or impossible?

Cited by 10 publications

References 18 publications

International functionalism and democracy

International functionalism and democracy

Los 16 comités del T-MEC y el funcionalismo

Dominatarian Theory of Regional Integration

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