Systems, Relations, and the Structures of International Societies

By Jack Donnelly

Inspired by recent work in evolutionary, developmental, and systems biology, Systems, Relations, and the Structures of International Societies sketches a robust conception of systems that grounds a new conception of levels (of organization, not merely analysis). Understanding international systems as multi-level multi-actor complex adaptive systems allows explanations of important features of the world that are inaccessible to dominant causal and rationalist explanatory strategies. It also develops a comprehensive critique of IR's dominant conception of systems and structures (narrow, rigid, and unfruitful); presents a novel conception of the interrelationship of the social production of continuities and the social production of change; and sketches models of spatio-political structure that cast new light on the development of international systems, including a distinctive account of the nature of globalization.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 100935518X
• ISBN13: 9781009355186
• Release Date: November 2023
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Length: 488 Pages
• Weight: 1.79 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.0" x 9.0"