Deconstructing the Dynamics of World-Societal Order

Reviews / Votes

"In the vast field of literature on the Middle East in general, and on Palestine in particular, this book by Jan Busse is a gem. Rich in of understanding the local conditions, it shows how locality is inextricably woven into, and partly produced by, global context. This global context is analysed in a conceptually innovative fashion. This book is a must-read not only for every student of contemporary Palestine, but also for those interested in the uses of sociological approaches in understanding contemporary world affairs."- Mathias Albert, Bielefeld University, Germany

"This volume addresses in an excellent way the growing number of calls for a stronger cross-fertilization between IR Theory and Middle East Studies and for disciplinary boundary crossing more generally. Based on an innovative theoretical framework that combines Foucault's notion of governmentality and the Stanford School's sociological neo-institutionalism the volume not only contributes, in original ways, to our understanding of how order is constituted and power exercised in a Palestine embedded within the world society. It, furthermore, succeeds in showing why it is important to transcend prevalent but problematic dichotomies in the study of global politics, such as universalism/particularism, inside/outside, traditional/modern, local/global, and, not at least, how this can be done." - Morten Valbjorn, Aarhus University, Denmark

"I was fascinated by the research undertaken by Jan Busse. This is an outstanding book that succeeds in what many publications in the field fail to do. Namely, to combine innovative theoretical reflection with rigorous empirical insights generated on the basis of intimate knowledge about a specific place. The book elegantly combines theories of world society and Foucauldian theory with an inspiring analysis of politics in Palestine. A must-read." - Stephan Stetter, Bundeswehr University Munich, Germany

From the Series Editor Preface, authored by by Iver B. Neumann:

This book draws on two perspectives that have a rightful place in a series on the new International Relations, namely Foucauldian governmentality studies and the world society perspective of the Stanford School. (...)

The book introduces these perspectives, as well as their contested uptake within the discipline of International Relations, and brings them to bear on detailed empirical analyses of Palestinian practices. (...) The result is a book that challenges the all-too-prominent methodological nationalism of Palestinian Studies and, by implication, other area-specific fields. More than that, however, the book is part and parcel of the general thrust towards making International Relations a more social discipline that is arguably at the core of the new International Relations.

In sociology-speak, it succeeds in pairing up the micro, the meso, and the macro. In anthropology-speak, it begins to look at interaction data in order to say something about social form. In New International Relations parlance, it focuses on the everyday as it is shaped by and shapes institutions and states. That should be as true an aim as any social science could ask for.

"Jan Busse's Deconstructing the Dynamics of World Societal Order offers a unique and innovative analysis of Palestine for scholars of International Relations (IR). (...) Deconstructing the Dynamics of World Societal Order requires attention from the discipline. It speaks to the various literatures, from post-structuralist IR to area studies. It advances the debates on how governmentality can be adopted to study political and social phenomena without abandoning a global perspective. Most importantly, the book provokes new ideas and ways of thinking about Palestine." - The International Spectator

"Deconstructing the Dynamics of World Societal Order requires attention from the discipline.It speaks to the various literatures, from post-structuralist IR to area studies. It advances the debates on how governmentality can be adopted to study political and social phenomena without abandoning a global perspective. Most importantly, the book provokes new ideas and ways of thinking about Palestine." - Ali Bilgic, Lecturer in Politics and International Relations, Loughborough University