The Global Transformation: The Nineteenth Century and the Making of Modern International Relations¹

Abstract

Buzan, Barry and George Lawson. (2012) The Global Transformation: The Nineteenth Century and the Making of Modern International Relations. International Studies Quarterly, doi: 10.1111/isqu.12011 © 2012 International Studies Association Unlike many other social sciences, international relations (IR) spend relatively little time assessing the impact of the nineteenth century on its principal subject matter. As a result, the discipline fails to understand the ways in which a dramatic reconfiguration of power during the “long nineteenth century” served to recast core features of international order. This article examines the extent of this lacuna and establishes the ways in which processes of industrialization, rational state‐building, and ideologies of progress served to destabilize existing forms of order and promote novel institutional formations. The changing character of organized violence is used to illustrate these changes. The article concludes by examining how IR could be rearticulated around a more pronounced engagement with “the global transformation.”

The conduct of history in International Relations: rethinking philosophy of history in IR theory

“…Buzan and Lawson (2013) argue that the 19th century constitutes a watershed period in the history of world politics. Musgrave and Nexon (2013) agree, but ask what theoretical form this watershed takes.…”

Rethinking Benchmark Dates in International Relations

“…That shift opened up a significant power gap between industrializing and nonindustrializing societies. It altered relations between Europe and Asia, changed the criteria for being considered a great power, reoriented the nature and conduct of war, and caused a shift in notions of military rivalry and balance (Buzan and Lawson, 2013). Neorealism assumes that the mode of power is more or less constant.…”

“…They have propagated an 'orthodox set' of benchmark dates without appearing to reflect much on the consequences either of privileging some dates over others, or of leaving important historical dynamics out altogether. For example, it is notable that none of IR's current benchmark dates are located in the 'long 19 th century', a period that witnessed the emergence and institutionalization of modern international order (Polanyi, 1957;Buzan and Lawson, 2013). More generally, the orthodox set of benchmark dates are serially reproduced in IR research and teaching, despite their often weak role in providing useful shortcuts into wider debates.…”

Educational internationalism, universal human rights, and international organisation: International Relations in the thought and practice of Robert Owen

“…Amongst the most significant of these is the call for greater understanding of the role of the nineteenth century, since it was an era of 'global transformation' characterised by the development of 'industrialisation, the rational state and ideologies of progress' during which 'novel institutional formations' developed. 5 As this article will show, Owen was to make a vital contribution not only to ideologies of progress but also to new institutions, not least the development of the modern international non-governmental organization (INGO). Recent work has challenged traditional assumptions of the twentieth century roots of INGOs by exploring their development since the late nineteenth century.…”