Constructing a Global Polity: Theory, Discourse and Governance

What is a 'global polity' and can it be squared with the continued strength of nation-states? This book argues that our current understanding of globalization makes it impossible to grasp some crucial changes in world politics. Drawing innovatively on both Foucault and Waltz Constructing a Global Polity reframes the debate about global politics by redefining the term 'polity' as a new model of political structure. Unlike hierarchy and anarchy, polity draws attention to how new objects of governance such as the global economy or climate affect the structure of world politics. Through this new lens the author examines the construction of a global polity in the controversy that followed the dramatic 'anti-globalization' protests at global elite gatherings. The findings challenge the standard typology of positions in the globalization debate and suggest that, even while states remain central, the logic of world politics may be shifting in more subtle ways.

Table of Contents:
Preface List of Figures and Tables Introduction PART I 1. Post-internationalism and the Global Polity 2. Global Polity as Modified Anarchy 3. Global Polity as Global State 4. Second-order Globalism 5. Constitutive Globalist Discourse 6. Global Governmentality and the Domestic Analogy 7. The Domestic Backdrop to Governmentality 8. Three Domestic Fallacies in Global Governmentality Literature 9. Global Analytics 10. Models of Political Structure in World Politics Theory 11. Pictures of Political Structure 12. What is a (Global) Polity? 13. Existing Definitions of Polity 14. The Structure of Polity 15. Variations on the Polity Theme 16. A Global Polity? PART II 17. Governing Globality for Local Autonomy 18. Global Radical Problematization 19. Global Radical Utopia 20. Global Radical Governance-objects 21. Global-radical Subjects 22. Global Governance for Local Autonomy 23. The Global Market Polity 24. Global Liberal Problematization 25. Global Liberal Governance-objects? 26. Global Liberal Utopia 27. Global Liberal Governance-subjects 28. Global-liberal Discourse: the Age of True Liberalism 29. Discursive Implications: Peddling the 'Global Market Polity' 30. The 'Global-Domestic' Polity 31. What is the Problematization? 32. The Governance-object: Globalization as Global Society 33. The Utopia: Global Equality 34. Global Governance Governance-subjects 35. Discursive Implications: Peddling a 'Global Domestic Polity'? 36. Constructing a Global Polity 37. Theoretical Reflection 38. A Glimpse of a Global Polity? 39. The Emerging Global Polity Research Agenda Bibliography

About the Author :
Olaf Corry is Lecturer in International Relations at The Open University, UK. He has a PhD from the University of Copenhagen and has previously worked at Cambridge and as a policy-advisor. He has written about global politics, social movements, climate change and risk in journals such as Review of International Studies, Millennium, and Political Studies.

Review :
'In this highly innovative book, Olaf Corry provides a fresh take on the problem of world order. Venturing beyond statist and globalist accounts, Corry argues that the concept of polity will help us to make better sense of the structure of the global realm, as well as the constitution of governance objects within that realm. As such, this book represents a significant contribution to the study of order in world politics, and should be of interest to international relations theorists and sociologists alike.' -Jens Bartelson, Lund University, Sweden 'A superb account that penetrates the confusion of today's geopolitics to find a global polity coalescing around global governance objects.' - Martin Albrow, University of Bonn, Germany 'A highly innovative work which adds greatly to our understanding of global politics.' - Anthony Giddens, Member of the House of Lords