This book reinvigorates the governmentality debate in International Relations (IR) by stressing the interconnectedness between governmentality and globality.
It addresses a widening gap in the social sciences and humanities by reconciling Michel Foucault’s concept of "governmentality" with global politics. The volume assembles leading scholars who draw attention to the importance of approaching governmentality in IR from the perspective of globality, and thereby suggests to consider governmentality and globality as fundamentally entangled. Accordingly, the contributors engage in a multifaceted debate about the relationship of governmentality and globality, relating their views to the proposition that globality cannot be equated with the international level and should rather be considered as a genuine context of its own requiring distinct consideration. The book builds on the increasing importance and popularity of governmentality studies, not only by updating Foucault’s concepts at a theoretical level, but also by introducing novel empirical problems and practices of global governmentality that have not hitherto been explored in IR.
With a wide theoretical and empirical range, it is relevant not only to IR in general and International Political Sociology in particular, but to any student or practitioner in political science, political theory, geography, sociology, or the humanities.
Table of Contents:
1 Introduction: The Globality Of Governmentality Part I Governing Thought 2 Global Governmentality and Foucault's Toolbox: Reflections on International Politics as a Social System and Field of Power Relations 3 Variations of Governmentality Across the Globe: The Case of Resilience 4 Inter-Governmentality: A Framework for Analysis 5 Sovereignty and Sovereign Powers in Global Governmentality 6 Exploring Agency and Resistance in The Context of Global Entanglements Part II Governing Practice 7 Governmentality, Authoritarianism, Or Capitalist Realism? Explaining Austerity with Foucauldian Political Economy 8 Gender, Global Governance, And the Limits of Expertise on Women: A Feminist Critique of Postconflict Statebuilding 9 Crisis, Post-Neoliberal Global Governmentality and BRICS’ Deconstructive Signature of Power 10 Governmentality of The Arctic As an International Region 11 Conclusion: How We Should, And How We Should Not, Widen the Scope of Governmentality Studies
About the Author :
Jan Busse is Senior Research Fellow and Lecturer at the Institute of Political Science at the Bundeswehr University Munich, Germany.
Review :
"This volume is a fresh inquiry into the idea of global governmentality. Bringing much needed clarity to a notoriously ambiguous concept, leading scholars explore its analytical purchase in a variety of contexts, thereby adding important insights into the modalities of power in contemporary world politics. Highly recommended to anyone interested in the dark side of global governance." - Jens Bartelson, Professor of Political Science, Lund University, Sweden.
"If crisis is the midwife of governmentality, then the need for innovative analytical approaches is pressing. This stimulating collection brings together leading International Relations scholars who engage with the concept of governmentality to imagine globality in new and distinctive ways. The insights into how governing thought and governing practice shape understandings of the world will greatly enhance debates within both International Relations and the wider social sciences. These insights also exemplify the critical conceptual approaches desperately needed for a new era." - Wendy Larner, Te Herenga Waka – Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand.
"This innovative and timely collection of essays demonstrates the importance of exploring how the macro-level of politics and globality is deeply intertwined with the micro-level of individual and group practices. Michel Foucault's concept of governmentality is put to excellent use in analysing a wide variety of settings in which the specificity of globality is highlighted. This volume is a valuable resource for scholars of International Relations as well as many other social scientists." - Peter Miller, London School of Economics and Political Science, UK.
"An indispensable contribution to our understanding of global power dynamics. The contributors to this volume link the concept of governmentality to a diverse set of theoretical approaches to produce a set of creative engagements with existing and emerging forms of governance in a range of historical and geographical settings. They challenge our understandings of global institutions and policies as well as of the concept of governmentality itself. A brilliant read and a must for any engagement with global politics." - Thomas Diez, University of Tuebingen, Germany.
