Research Article
BibTex RIS Cite

Social Standards of Self-Restraint in World Politics

Year 2015, Volume: 7 Issue: 2, 1 - 19, 01.12.2015

Abstract

The process sociologist, Norbert Elias (2012:89) maintained that Caxton’s comment in his
fifteenth century treatise on courtesy that ‘things that were once permitted are now forbidden’ could
stand as the ‘motto’ for the European civilizing process that was to come. The main course of
development which would revolve around the formation of modern states and the significant
pacification of the relevant societies shaped different related spheres of social interaction. According
to Elias, they included the standards that governed bodily functions, changes in table manners and (of
particular importance for the present discussion) shifts in emotional responses to cruelty and violence.
His writings were less consistent on the subject of whether actions that were once permitted in
relations between states have become forbidden in the most recent phase of the modern statessystem.
The main objective of the following discussion is to synthesise elements of process sociology
and the English School in order to determine whether the current era is distinctive if not unique. 

References

  • Angell, Sir N. (1912). The Great Illusion: A Study of the Relation of Military Power to National Advantage. London: William Heinemann.
  • Bellamy, A. (2012). Massacres and Morality: Mass Atrocities in an Age of Civilian Immunity. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  • Benthem van den Bergh, G. (1992). The Nuclear Revolution and the End of the Cold War: Forced Restraint. Basingstoke: MacMillan.
  • Bull, H. (2002). The Anarchical Society: A Study of Order in World Politics. London: Macmillan.
  • Bull, H. (1984). The Revolt against the West. in Bull and Watson. Expansion of International Society.
  • Bull, H. and Watson, A. (1984). The Expansion of International Society. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
  • Buzan, B. (2011) A World without Superpowers: Decentred Globalism. International Relations. 25 (1): 3-25.
  • Buzan, B. and Little, R. (2000). International Systems in World History: Remaking the Study of International Relations. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  • Cell, J. (1979). The Imperial Conscience in P. Marsh (ed) The Conscience of the Victorian State, Hassocks. Sussex: Harvester.
  • Clark, I. (2005). Legitimacy and International Society. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  • Clark, I. (2007). International Society and World Society. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  • Clark, I. (2013). The Vulnerable and International Society. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  • Crawford, N. C. (2002). Argument and Change in World Politics: Ethics, Decolonization, and Humanitarian Intervention. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  • Crefeld, M. van (1989). Technology and War: From 2000BC to the Present. London: Free Press.
  • Doorn, J. van (1984). Continuity and Discontinuity in Civil-Military Relations in M. L. Martin and E. S. McCrate (eds) The Military, Militarism, and the Polity: Essays in Honor of Morris Janowitz, New York: Free Press.
  • Doyle, M. (1983). Kant Liberal Legacies, and Foreign Affairs. Parts I and II Philosophy and Public Affairs. 12 (3):205-35 and 12 (4):323-53.
  • Dunne, T. (2003). Society and Hierarchy in International Relations. International Relations. 17 (3): 303-20.
  • Elias, N. (2006a). The Court Society. Dublin: University College Dublin Press.
  • Elias, N. (2006b). The Expulsion of the Huguenots. in N. Elias, Early Writings, Dublin: University College Dublin Press.
  • Elias, N. (2007). Involvement and Detachment. Dublin: University College Dublin Press.
  • Elias, N. (2008a). The Genesis of Sport as a Sociological Problem, Part 1. in N. Elias and E. Dunning, Quest for Excitement: Sport and Leisure in the Civilizing Process. Dublin: University College Dublin Press.
  • Elias, N . (2008b). Technisation and Civilisation. in N. Elias, Essays II: On Civilising Processes, State Formation and National Identity. Dublin: University College Dublin Press.
  • Elias, N. (2008c). National Peculiarities of British Public Opinion in N. Elias, Essays II: On Civilising Processes, State Formation and National Identity, Dublin: University College Dublin Press.
  • Elias, N. (2008d). ‘Civilization’, In N. Elias, Essays II: On Civilising Processes, State Formation and National Identity. Dublin: University College Dublin Press.
  • Elias, N. (2009). The Retreat of Sociologists into the Present in Essays III: On Sociology and the Humanities. Dublin: University College Dublin Press.
  • Elias, N. (2010a). The Loneliness of the Dying and Humana Conditio, Dublin: University College Dublin Press.
  • Elias N. (2010b). The Society of Individuals. Dublin: University College Dublin Press.
  • Elias N. (2011). The Symbol Theory. Dublin: University College Dublin Press.
  • Elias, N. (2012). On the Process of Civilization: Sociogenetic and Psychogenetic Investigations. Dublin: University College Dublin Press.
  • Elias, N. (2013a). Studies on the Germans: Power Struggles and the Development of Habitus in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries. Dublin: University College Dublin Press.
  • Elias, N. (2013b). We Need for Empathy for the Human Difficulties of the Process of Civilization in N. Elias, Interviews and Autobiographical Reflections. Dublin: University College Dublin Press.
  • Elias, N. (2013c). Knowledge and Power in N. Elias, Interviews and Autobiographical Reflections. Dublin: University College Dublin Press.
  • Elias, N. (2013d). The Janus Face of States in N. Elias, Interviews and Autobiographical Reflections. Dublin: University College Dublin Press.
  • Feichtinger, M., Malinowski S. and Richards, C. (2012). Transformative Invasions: Western Post-9/11 Counterinsurgency and the Lessons of Colonialism, Humanity: An International Journal of Human Rights, Humanitarianism, and Development. 3 (1):35-63.
  • Fletcher, J. (1997). Violence and Civilization: An Introduction to the Work of Norbert Elias. Cambridge: Polity Press.
  • Gat, A. (2006). War in Human Civilization. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  • Gong, G. (1984). The ‘Standard of Civilization’ in International Society. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
  • Hobson, J. (2004).The Eastern Origins of Western Civilization. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  • Hobson, J. M. (2012). The Eurocentric Conception of World Politics: Western International Theory, 1760-2010. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  • Ikenberry, G. J. (2001). After Victory: Institutions, Strategic Restraint, and the Rebuilding of Order after Major Wars. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
  • Jackson, R. (2000). The Global Covenant: Human Conduct in a World of States. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  • Jacoby, T. (2011). Islam, Violence and the New Barbarism in T. Crook, R. Gill and B. Taithe (eds) Evil, Barbarism and Empire: Britain and Abroad. Basingstoke: Palgrave.
  • Jervis, R. (2011). Force in our Times, International Relations. 25 (4):403-25.
  • Keal, P. (2003). European Conquest and the Rights of Indigenous Peoples: The Moral Backwardness of International Society. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  • Keohane, R.O. (1984). After Hegemony: Cooperation and Discord in the World Political Economy. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
  • Keohane, R. O. (1989). Reciprocity in International Relations in R. O. Keohane, International Institutions and State Power: Essays in International Relations Theory. Boulder Colorado: Westview Press.
  • Lebow, R. N. (2010a). The Past and Future of War. International Relations. 24 (3): 243-70.
  • Lebow, R. N. (2010b). Why Nations Fight: Past and Future Motives for War. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  • Linklater A. (2011). The Problem of Harm in World Politics: Theoretical Investigations. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  • Linklater, A. (2014). Intervention and Civilization in D. Held (ed) Lessons for Intervention in the Twenty First Century: Legality, Feasibility and Legitimacy Global Policy. (available at www.globalpolicyjournal.com).
  • Mennell, S. (1996). Asia and Europe: Comparing Civilizing Processes in E. Jones, J. Goudsblom and S. Mennell, The Course of Human History: Economic Growth, Social Process, and Civilization. London: M. E. Sharpe.
  • Mishra, P. (2012). From the Ruins of Empire: The Revolt against the West and the Making of Asia. London: Allen Lane.
  • Mueller, J. (1989). Retreat from Doomsday: The Obsolescence of Major War. New York: Basic Books.
  • Osiander, A. (1994). The States-System of Europe, 1640-1990: Peacemaking and the Conditions of International Stability. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
  • Parker, G. M. (2002). The Etiquette of Atrocity: The Laws of War in Early Modern Europe in G. Parker, Empire, War and Faith in Early Modern Europe. London: Allen Lane.
  • Pasha, M. (2012). Global Leadership and the Islamic World: Crisis, Contention and Challenge in S. Gill (ed) Global Crises and the Crisis of Global Leadership. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  • Peterson, J. H. (2013). Creating Space for Emancipatory Human Security Liberal Obstructions and the Potential of Agonism. International Studies Quarterly. 57(2): 318-28.
  • Rae, H. (2002). State Identities and the Homogenisation of Peoples. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  • Ray, J. L. (1989). The Abolition of Slavery and the End of International War. International Organization. 43 (3): 405-39.
  • Reinold, T. (2013). Sovereignty and the Responsibility to Protect: The Power of Norms and the Norms of the Powerful. Abingdon: Routledge.
  • Shani, G. (2014). Religion, Identity and Human Security. Abingdon: Routledge.
  • Shapcott, R. (2001). Justice, Community and Dialogue in International Relations. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  • Slim, H. (2008). Killing Civilians: Method, Madness, and Morality in War. New York: Columbia University Press.
  • Suzuki, S. (2009). Civilization and Empire: China and Japan’s Encounter with European International Society, Abingdon: Routledge 2009.
  • Thomas, W. (2001). The Ethics of Destruction: Norms and Force in International Relations. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.
  • Van Vree, W. (1999). Meetings, Manners and Civilization: The Development of Modern Meeting Behavior. Leicester: University of Leicester Press.
  • Vattel, E. (1844). The Law of Nations or the Principles of Natural Law Applied to the Conduct and to the Affairs of Nations and of Sovereigns. Philadelphia: T. and J. W. Johnson.
  • Veitch, S. (2007). Law and Irresponsibility: On the Legitimation of Human Suffering. London: Abingdon.
  • Vincent, R. J. (1986). Human Rights and International Relations. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  • Watson, A. (1987). Hedley Bull States Systems and International Societies. Review of International Studies. 13(2): 147-53.
  • Wight, M. (1966). Western Values in International Relations in H. Butterfield and M. Wight (eds) Diplomatic Investigations: Essays in the Theory of International Relations. London: Allen and Unwin.
  • Wight, M. (1977). Systems of States. Leicester: Leicester University Press.
Year 2015, Volume: 7 Issue: 2, 1 - 19, 01.12.2015

Abstract

References

  • Angell, Sir N. (1912). The Great Illusion: A Study of the Relation of Military Power to National Advantage. London: William Heinemann.
  • Bellamy, A. (2012). Massacres and Morality: Mass Atrocities in an Age of Civilian Immunity. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  • Benthem van den Bergh, G. (1992). The Nuclear Revolution and the End of the Cold War: Forced Restraint. Basingstoke: MacMillan.
  • Bull, H. (2002). The Anarchical Society: A Study of Order in World Politics. London: Macmillan.
  • Bull, H. (1984). The Revolt against the West. in Bull and Watson. Expansion of International Society.
  • Bull, H. and Watson, A. (1984). The Expansion of International Society. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
  • Buzan, B. (2011) A World without Superpowers: Decentred Globalism. International Relations. 25 (1): 3-25.
  • Buzan, B. and Little, R. (2000). International Systems in World History: Remaking the Study of International Relations. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  • Cell, J. (1979). The Imperial Conscience in P. Marsh (ed) The Conscience of the Victorian State, Hassocks. Sussex: Harvester.
  • Clark, I. (2005). Legitimacy and International Society. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  • Clark, I. (2007). International Society and World Society. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  • Clark, I. (2013). The Vulnerable and International Society. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  • Crawford, N. C. (2002). Argument and Change in World Politics: Ethics, Decolonization, and Humanitarian Intervention. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  • Crefeld, M. van (1989). Technology and War: From 2000BC to the Present. London: Free Press.
  • Doorn, J. van (1984). Continuity and Discontinuity in Civil-Military Relations in M. L. Martin and E. S. McCrate (eds) The Military, Militarism, and the Polity: Essays in Honor of Morris Janowitz, New York: Free Press.
  • Doyle, M. (1983). Kant Liberal Legacies, and Foreign Affairs. Parts I and II Philosophy and Public Affairs. 12 (3):205-35 and 12 (4):323-53.
  • Dunne, T. (2003). Society and Hierarchy in International Relations. International Relations. 17 (3): 303-20.
  • Elias, N. (2006a). The Court Society. Dublin: University College Dublin Press.
  • Elias, N. (2006b). The Expulsion of the Huguenots. in N. Elias, Early Writings, Dublin: University College Dublin Press.
  • Elias, N. (2007). Involvement and Detachment. Dublin: University College Dublin Press.
  • Elias, N. (2008a). The Genesis of Sport as a Sociological Problem, Part 1. in N. Elias and E. Dunning, Quest for Excitement: Sport and Leisure in the Civilizing Process. Dublin: University College Dublin Press.
  • Elias, N . (2008b). Technisation and Civilisation. in N. Elias, Essays II: On Civilising Processes, State Formation and National Identity. Dublin: University College Dublin Press.
  • Elias, N. (2008c). National Peculiarities of British Public Opinion in N. Elias, Essays II: On Civilising Processes, State Formation and National Identity, Dublin: University College Dublin Press.
  • Elias, N. (2008d). ‘Civilization’, In N. Elias, Essays II: On Civilising Processes, State Formation and National Identity. Dublin: University College Dublin Press.
  • Elias, N. (2009). The Retreat of Sociologists into the Present in Essays III: On Sociology and the Humanities. Dublin: University College Dublin Press.
  • Elias, N. (2010a). The Loneliness of the Dying and Humana Conditio, Dublin: University College Dublin Press.
  • Elias N. (2010b). The Society of Individuals. Dublin: University College Dublin Press.
  • Elias N. (2011). The Symbol Theory. Dublin: University College Dublin Press.
  • Elias, N. (2012). On the Process of Civilization: Sociogenetic and Psychogenetic Investigations. Dublin: University College Dublin Press.
  • Elias, N. (2013a). Studies on the Germans: Power Struggles and the Development of Habitus in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries. Dublin: University College Dublin Press.
  • Elias, N. (2013b). We Need for Empathy for the Human Difficulties of the Process of Civilization in N. Elias, Interviews and Autobiographical Reflections. Dublin: University College Dublin Press.
  • Elias, N. (2013c). Knowledge and Power in N. Elias, Interviews and Autobiographical Reflections. Dublin: University College Dublin Press.
  • Elias, N. (2013d). The Janus Face of States in N. Elias, Interviews and Autobiographical Reflections. Dublin: University College Dublin Press.
  • Feichtinger, M., Malinowski S. and Richards, C. (2012). Transformative Invasions: Western Post-9/11 Counterinsurgency and the Lessons of Colonialism, Humanity: An International Journal of Human Rights, Humanitarianism, and Development. 3 (1):35-63.
  • Fletcher, J. (1997). Violence and Civilization: An Introduction to the Work of Norbert Elias. Cambridge: Polity Press.
  • Gat, A. (2006). War in Human Civilization. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  • Gong, G. (1984). The ‘Standard of Civilization’ in International Society. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
  • Hobson, J. (2004).The Eastern Origins of Western Civilization. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  • Hobson, J. M. (2012). The Eurocentric Conception of World Politics: Western International Theory, 1760-2010. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  • Ikenberry, G. J. (2001). After Victory: Institutions, Strategic Restraint, and the Rebuilding of Order after Major Wars. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
  • Jackson, R. (2000). The Global Covenant: Human Conduct in a World of States. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  • Jacoby, T. (2011). Islam, Violence and the New Barbarism in T. Crook, R. Gill and B. Taithe (eds) Evil, Barbarism and Empire: Britain and Abroad. Basingstoke: Palgrave.
  • Jervis, R. (2011). Force in our Times, International Relations. 25 (4):403-25.
  • Keal, P. (2003). European Conquest and the Rights of Indigenous Peoples: The Moral Backwardness of International Society. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  • Keohane, R.O. (1984). After Hegemony: Cooperation and Discord in the World Political Economy. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
  • Keohane, R. O. (1989). Reciprocity in International Relations in R. O. Keohane, International Institutions and State Power: Essays in International Relations Theory. Boulder Colorado: Westview Press.
  • Lebow, R. N. (2010a). The Past and Future of War. International Relations. 24 (3): 243-70.
  • Lebow, R. N. (2010b). Why Nations Fight: Past and Future Motives for War. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  • Linklater A. (2011). The Problem of Harm in World Politics: Theoretical Investigations. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  • Linklater, A. (2014). Intervention and Civilization in D. Held (ed) Lessons for Intervention in the Twenty First Century: Legality, Feasibility and Legitimacy Global Policy. (available at www.globalpolicyjournal.com).
  • Mennell, S. (1996). Asia and Europe: Comparing Civilizing Processes in E. Jones, J. Goudsblom and S. Mennell, The Course of Human History: Economic Growth, Social Process, and Civilization. London: M. E. Sharpe.
  • Mishra, P. (2012). From the Ruins of Empire: The Revolt against the West and the Making of Asia. London: Allen Lane.
  • Mueller, J. (1989). Retreat from Doomsday: The Obsolescence of Major War. New York: Basic Books.
  • Osiander, A. (1994). The States-System of Europe, 1640-1990: Peacemaking and the Conditions of International Stability. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
  • Parker, G. M. (2002). The Etiquette of Atrocity: The Laws of War in Early Modern Europe in G. Parker, Empire, War and Faith in Early Modern Europe. London: Allen Lane.
  • Pasha, M. (2012). Global Leadership and the Islamic World: Crisis, Contention and Challenge in S. Gill (ed) Global Crises and the Crisis of Global Leadership. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  • Peterson, J. H. (2013). Creating Space for Emancipatory Human Security Liberal Obstructions and the Potential of Agonism. International Studies Quarterly. 57(2): 318-28.
  • Rae, H. (2002). State Identities and the Homogenisation of Peoples. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  • Ray, J. L. (1989). The Abolition of Slavery and the End of International War. International Organization. 43 (3): 405-39.
  • Reinold, T. (2013). Sovereignty and the Responsibility to Protect: The Power of Norms and the Norms of the Powerful. Abingdon: Routledge.
  • Shani, G. (2014). Religion, Identity and Human Security. Abingdon: Routledge.
  • Shapcott, R. (2001). Justice, Community and Dialogue in International Relations. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  • Slim, H. (2008). Killing Civilians: Method, Madness, and Morality in War. New York: Columbia University Press.
  • Suzuki, S. (2009). Civilization and Empire: China and Japan’s Encounter with European International Society, Abingdon: Routledge 2009.
  • Thomas, W. (2001). The Ethics of Destruction: Norms and Force in International Relations. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.
  • Van Vree, W. (1999). Meetings, Manners and Civilization: The Development of Modern Meeting Behavior. Leicester: University of Leicester Press.
  • Vattel, E. (1844). The Law of Nations or the Principles of Natural Law Applied to the Conduct and to the Affairs of Nations and of Sovereigns. Philadelphia: T. and J. W. Johnson.
  • Veitch, S. (2007). Law and Irresponsibility: On the Legitimation of Human Suffering. London: Abingdon.
  • Vincent, R. J. (1986). Human Rights and International Relations. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  • Watson, A. (1987). Hedley Bull States Systems and International Societies. Review of International Studies. 13(2): 147-53.
  • Wight, M. (1966). Western Values in International Relations in H. Butterfield and M. Wight (eds) Diplomatic Investigations: Essays in the Theory of International Relations. London: Allen and Unwin.
  • Wight, M. (1977). Systems of States. Leicester: Leicester University Press.
There are 72 citations in total.

Details

Primary Language English
Journal Section Research Article
Authors

Andrew Linklater This is me

Publication Date December 1, 2015
Published in Issue Year 2015 Volume: 7 Issue: 2

Cite

APA Linklater, A. (2015). Social Standards of Self-Restraint in World Politics. Spectrum: Journal of Global Studies, 7(2), 1-19.
AMA Linklater A. Social Standards of Self-Restraint in World Politics. Spectrum. December 2015;7(2):1-19.
Chicago Linklater, Andrew. “Social Standards of Self-Restraint in World Politics”. Spectrum: Journal of Global Studies 7, no. 2 (December 2015): 1-19.
EndNote Linklater A (December 1, 2015) Social Standards of Self-Restraint in World Politics. Spectrum: Journal of Global Studies 7 2 1–19.
IEEE A. Linklater, “Social Standards of Self-Restraint in World Politics”, Spectrum, vol. 7, no. 2, pp. 1–19, 2015.
ISNAD Linklater, Andrew. “Social Standards of Self-Restraint in World Politics”. Spectrum: Journal of Global Studies 7/2 (December 2015), 1-19.
JAMA Linklater A. Social Standards of Self-Restraint in World Politics. Spectrum. 2015;7:1–19.
MLA Linklater, Andrew. “Social Standards of Self-Restraint in World Politics”. Spectrum: Journal of Global Studies, vol. 7, no. 2, 2015, pp. 1-19.
Vancouver Linklater A. Social Standards of Self-Restraint in World Politics. Spectrum. 2015;7(2):1-19.