the English school of international

relations theory maintains that there is

a society of states at the international

level despite the condition of anarchy

the English school stands for the

conviction that ideas rather than simply

material capabilities shape the conduct

of international politics and therefore

deserve analysis and critique in this

sense it is similar to constructivism

though the English school has its roots

more in world history international law

and political theory and is more open to

normative approaches than is generally

the case with constructivism overview

equals international system

International Society world Society

International System the classical

English school starts with the realist

assumption of an international system

that forms as soon as two or more states

have a sufficient amount of interaction

it underlines the English school

tradition of realism and mcdhh politique

and puts international anarchy at the

center of international relations theory

international society Hedley bull

however argued that states share a

certain common interest that lead to the

development of a certain set of rules he

thus defined an international society as

existent when a group of states which

not merely form a system in the sense

that the behavior of each is a necessary

factor in the calculations of the others

but also have established by dialogue

and consent common rules and

institutions for the conduct of their

relations and recognize their common

interest in maintaining these

arrangements in Bulls view any type of

society needed to have rules about

restraints on the use of force about the

sanctity of agreements and about

property rights without elements of

these three there would be no society

these rules are expressed in a set of

institutions that capture the normative

structure of any international society

in the classical English school these

were war the Great Powers diplomacy the

balance of power and international law

especially in the mutual recognition of

sovereignty by States - these could be

added territoriality nationalism the

market and human equality

since these rules are not legally

binding and there is no ordering

institutions speaking of norms would

probably be more appropriate states that

respect these basic rules form an

International Society Brown and Dane Lee

therefore define the International

Society as a norm governed relationship

whose members accept that they have at

least limited responsibilities towards

one another and the society as a whole

states thus follow their interests but

not at all costs another way of looking

at this would be through Adam Watson's

term race andhe system II a counterpoint

to race on da copyright tat and defined

as the idea that pays to make the system

work there are differing accounts within

the school

concerning the evolution of those ideas

some arguing their origins can be found

in the remnants of medieval conceptions

of Societas Christiana and others such

as Hedley bull in the concerns of

sovereign states to safeguard and

promote basic goals especially their

survival most English school

understandings of International Society

blend these two together maintaining

that the contemporary society of states

is partly the product of a common

civilization the Christian world of

medieval Europe and before that the

Roman Empire and partly that of a kind

of Lockean contract world society based

on a Kantian understanding of the world

the concept of world society takes the

global population as a whole as basis

for global identity however boozin also

argued that the concept of world society

was the Cinderella concept of English

school theory as it received almost no

conceptual development equals

re-examination of traditional approaches

equals a great deal of the English

school of thought concerns itself with

the examination of traditional

international theory casting it a euro

as Martin Wight did in his 1950s era

lectures at the London School of

Economics a euro into three divisions

realist and thus the concept of

International System rationalist

representing the International Society

revolutionist representing world society

in broad terms the English school itself

has supported the rationalist org Roshan

tradition

middle way between the power politics of

realism and the utopianism of revolution

ISM later white changed his triad into a

four-part division by adding Maz knee

the English school is largely a

constructivist theory emphasizing the

non-deterministic nature of anarchy in

international affairs that also draws on

functionalism and realism equals

internal divisions equals the English

school is often understood to be split

into two main wings named after two

categories described by Hedley bull the

pluralists argue that the diversity of

humankind their differing political and

religious views ethnic and linguistic

traditions and so on is best contained

within a society that allows for the

greatest possible independence for

states which can in their forms of

government express those differing

conceptions of the good life this

position is expressed most forcefully by

the Canadian academic Robert Jackson

especially in the global covenant the

solid wrists

by contrast argue that the Society of

States should do more to promote the

causes of human rights and perhaps

emancipation as opposed to the rights of

states to political independence and non

intervention in their internal affairs

this position may be located in the work

on humanitarian intervention by amongst

others

Nicholas wheeler in saving strangers

there are however further divisions

within the school the most obvious is

that between those scholars who acquire

that the school's approach should be

historical and normative and those who

think it can be methodologically

pluralist making use of positivist

approaches to the field equals

affinities to others equals the English

school does have affinities the

pluralists have drawn from the classical

political realism of Hans Morgenthau

George Kennan the pluralists have also

been influenced by the underpinnings of

Reinhold Niebuhr 's christian realism

the solid Erised have drawn from realist

writers such as stanley hoffman

contemporary English school writers draw

from a variety of sources from

structural neo realism of Kenneth waltz

in the case of Barry Buzan from social

constructivism of Alexander

went in that of Tim Dunn from critical

theorists in that of Andrew Linklater

and even from the post-structuralism of

michel foucault in the case of James

Darren history.the Englishness of the

school is questionable many of its most

prominent members are not English and

its intellectual origins are disputed

one view is that its roots lie in the

work of pioneering interwar scholars

like the South African Charles Manning

the founding professor of the department

of international relations at the London

School of Economics others have located

them in the work of the British

Committee on the theory of international

politics a group created in 1959 under

the chairmanship of the Cambridge

historian Herbert Butterfield with

financial aid from the Rockefeller

Foundation both positions acknowledge

the central role played by the theorists

Martin white Hedley bull and a J Vincent

the name English school was first coined

by Roy Jones in an article published in

the review of international studies in

1981 entitled the English school a case

for closure some other descriptions

notably that of British

institutionalists have been suggested

but are not generally used throughout

the development of the theory the name

became widely accepted not least because

it was developed almost exclusively at

the London School of Economics Cambridge

and Oxford University key works

Hedley bull the anarchical society

Hedley bull and Adam Watson the

expansion of International Society

Herbert Butterfield Martin white

diplomatic investigations Ian Clark

legitimacy in international society

Martin white for seminal thinkers in

international theory Machiavelli grotius

Kant and Mazzini Martin white systems of

states Martin white power politics

Martin white international theory Tim

Dunn inventing International Society a

history of the English school Barry

Buzan from international to world

society English school theory in the

social structure of globalization

Nicholas wheeler saving strangers

Brunello vjz the

British Committee on the theory of

international politics the rediscovery

of history Andrew Linklater and Heidi me

show Konami the English School of

International Relations a contemporary

reassessment Andrew Harrell on global

order power values and the constitution

of International Society

Edward keen beyond the anarchical

society grotius colonialism and order in

world politics

James Mile nationalism and international

society Cambridge Cambridge University

Press Adam Watson the evolution of

international society London Routledge

Barry Buzan an introduction to the

English school of international

relations the societal approach

Cambridge polity holstee kala Vijay

taming the sovereigns institutional

change in international politics

Cambridge University Press

Jackson Robert H the Global Covenant

human conduct in a world of states

Oxford Oxford University Press see also

international community global village

world community external links

bibliography of the English school

compiled by Barry Buzan for the

University of Leeds research project

references