ID | 150567 |
Title Proper | Blasts from the past |
Other Title Information | war and fracture in the international system |
Language | ENG |
Author | Bartelson, Jens |
Summary / Abstract (Note) | This article is a brief inquiry into the changing meaning of war in Western political thought, with special reference to its role in fracturing the contemporary international system. I argue that contemporary debates about the changing nature of war have failed to note what I take to be the most important change in our understanding of war in recent decades—the return of the long-suppressed view that regards war as a productive force in human affairs. I substantiate this argument by showing how war was long believed to be productive of sociopolitical order in general, and of the modern state and the international system in particular. I then proceed to show how similar conceptions of war inform contemporary practices of military intervention and nation-building, and how the acceptance of this view among scholars has made them complicit in its legitimization and reproduction. |
`In' analytical Note | International Political Sociology Vol.10, No.4; Dec 2016: p.352-368 |
Journal Source | International Political Sociology 2016-12 10, 4 |
Key Words | International System ; War and Fracture |