Andreas Osiander
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- May 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780198294511
- eISBN:
- 9780191717048
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198294511.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, International Relations and Politics
This book challenges the habit of conventional historiography of taking the ‘essential’ state – a ‘bounded entity’ equipped with a ‘sovereign’ central power — for granted in any period and of not ...
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This book challenges the habit of conventional historiography of taking the ‘essential’ state – a ‘bounded entity’ equipped with a ‘sovereign’ central power — for granted in any period and of not taking period political terminology seriously. It refutes the idea, current both in historiography and in International Relations theory (in particular Realism), that the fundamental nature of ‘international’ politics is historically immutable. Nothing akin to what we call the ‘state’ existed before the 19th century: it is a recent invention and the assumption that it is timeless, necessary for society, is simply part of its legitimating myth. The development over the past three millennia of the political structures of western civilization is shown here to have been a succession of unrepeatable but path-dependent stages. In examining structural change, the book adopts a constructivist approach based on the analysis of period political discourse. This approach both reflects and illuminates the evolution of western political thought: on the one hand, political thought is a vehicle of the political discourse of its period. On the other hand, the assumption that political theory must in any age somehow be centred on the ‘state’ has forced our understanding of it into a straight-jacket: abandoning this assumption permits fresh and unexpected insights into the political thinking of earlier eras. Close attention, however, is also paid to the material constraints and opportunities (e.g., ecological and economic factors, or military technology) impacting on the evolution of society.Less
This book challenges the habit of conventional historiography of taking the ‘essential’ state – a ‘bounded entity’ equipped with a ‘sovereign’ central power — for granted in any period and of not taking period political terminology seriously. It refutes the idea, current both in historiography and in International Relations theory (in particular Realism), that the fundamental nature of ‘international’ politics is historically immutable. Nothing akin to what we call the ‘state’ existed before the 19th century: it is a recent invention and the assumption that it is timeless, necessary for society, is simply part of its legitimating myth. The development over the past three millennia of the political structures of western civilization is shown here to have been a succession of unrepeatable but path-dependent stages. In examining structural change, the book adopts a constructivist approach based on the analysis of period political discourse. This approach both reflects and illuminates the evolution of western political thought: on the one hand, political thought is a vehicle of the political discourse of its period. On the other hand, the assumption that political theory must in any age somehow be centred on the ‘state’ has forced our understanding of it into a straight-jacket: abandoning this assumption permits fresh and unexpected insights into the political thinking of earlier eras. Close attention, however, is also paid to the material constraints and opportunities (e.g., ecological and economic factors, or military technology) impacting on the evolution of society.
Kenneth J. Gergen
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- March 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780199846269
- eISBN:
- 9780190256302
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:osobl/9780199846269.003.0003
- Subject:
- Psychology, Social Psychology
This chapter focuses on the concept of co-action, or the process of collaborative action from which all meaning is generated. It argues that co-action results in meaningful realities, rationalities, ...
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This chapter focuses on the concept of co-action, or the process of collaborative action from which all meaning is generated. It argues that co-action results in meaningful realities, rationalities, and moralities and gives rise to a world of bounded entities while also allowing opportunities to establish alternative worlds. It considers the commonly accepted boundaries between self and other, along with the constructed character of bounded being. It also explores a vision of insoluble connectivity and describes thrust into presence as a process of relationship from which the very conception of separated entities emerges. After discussing the constraints and potentials of co-action, the chapter concludes by explaining human relations and challenging the traditional assumption of cause and effect, with emphasis on human action within a relational confluence.Less
This chapter focuses on the concept of co-action, or the process of collaborative action from which all meaning is generated. It argues that co-action results in meaningful realities, rationalities, and moralities and gives rise to a world of bounded entities while also allowing opportunities to establish alternative worlds. It considers the commonly accepted boundaries between self and other, along with the constructed character of bounded being. It also explores a vision of insoluble connectivity and describes thrust into presence as a process of relationship from which the very conception of separated entities emerges. After discussing the constraints and potentials of co-action, the chapter concludes by explaining human relations and challenging the traditional assumption of cause and effect, with emphasis on human action within a relational confluence.
