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Explains how actors control access to international resources, creating a stratified international system of political equals and unequals.
List of contents
1. False promises of universalism: the interdependent logics of equality and inequality in the international system; 2. The closure thesis: social closure, club dynamics, and stratification in the international system; 3. 'The master institution': diplomacy, practices of closure, and the emergence of an international system in early modern Europe; 4. 'Dwarves and giants': international law, the monopolization of sovereign rights, and stratification in the international system; 5. International organizations: between sovereign equality and the institutionalization of inequality; 6. What remains of the promise of equality?; Index.
About the author
Lora Anne Viola is a professor of political science, researching and teaching on international organizations, international relations theory, and US foreign policy. She is co-editor of Historical Institutionalism and International Relations (Oxford University Press, 2016). She is a recipient of the American Political Science Association's Alexander L. George Article Award, as well as research funding from the German National Science Foundation.
Summary
Of interest to students and scholars of international relations theory, global history, and international organizations, this book sheds light on why international institutions remain torn between extending political equality to new actors and monopolizing political rights for an exclusive set of members - and how demands for equality can lead to new inequalities.
Additional text
'Lora Anne Viola has written what will certainly become the go-to text for anyone interested in international clubs and social closure in the international system. Theoretically rich and historically well-grounded, this book is also an absolute pleasure to read. I have been recommending it everyone since I first came across it…' Ayşe Zarakol, Reader in International Relations, University of Cambridge
