Transformation of Political Community

Reviews / Votes

"This is one of the two or three most important works of international political theory of the 1990s, a book that will be required reading for everyone concerned with the ethical foundations of the emerging post-Westphalian international order. It is not simply the best account yet available of the contribution critical theory can make to International Relations, it is the most impressive work of international theory in general to have been produced in Britain since Bull's Anarchical Society twenty years ago." Chris Brown, University of Southampton "This will be one of the most important books in international theory published in this decade. In it, Linklater follows the logic of his two earlier books to outline his vision of post nation-state communities. This is a magisterial work, revealing a profound understanding of the competing ethical debates within international theory. Linklater has written a magnum opus: it is a powerful examination of patterns of inclusion and exclusion in international politics. He makes a persuasive case for a different form of political community by extending Habermas's notions of discourse ethics into the international realm. This will be required reading for all those interested in international ethics and in international political theory." Steve Smith, University of Wales, Aberystwyth

"Andrew Linklater has been one of the major voices in contemporary international relations theory ... his latest book is ... his best. By any gauge, this is a book of large ambitions and implications and it is a tribute to the power of the book that it succeeds in making so complex a case splendidly." International Affairs

"The Transformation of Political Community really is one of the most important books in international theory published in the last decade or so. It offers a major contribution to contemporary international relations theory, and feeds usefully into the literatures on globalization, European integration, and cosmopolitan democracy. At the same moment, it is an outstanding work of political theory ... the range and depth of scholarship deployed in its crafting has resulted in a dense work, but one that is also unfashionably readable." Political Studies