TY - BOOK ID - 5397812 TI - International legitimacy and world society PY - 2007 SN - 9780199297009 0199297002 PB - Oxford Oxford University Press DB - UniCat KW - International cooperation KW - International obligations KW - Social norms KW - Legitimacy of governments. KW - International relations. KW - Coopération internationale KW - Obligations internationales KW - Normes sociales KW - Légitimité des gouvernements KW - Relations internationales KW - History. KW - Histoire KW - Coexistence KW - Foreign affairs KW - Foreign policy KW - Foreign relations KW - Global governance KW - Interdependence of nations KW - International affairs KW - Peaceful coexistence KW - World order KW - National security KW - Sovereignty KW - World politics KW - Governments, Legitimacy of KW - Legitimacy (Constitutional law) KW - Consensus (Social sciences) KW - Revolutions KW - State, The KW - General will KW - Political stability KW - Regime change KW - Folkways KW - Norms, Social KW - Rules, Social KW - Social rules KW - Manners and customs KW - Social control KW - International agreements KW - International law KW - Treaties KW - Cooperation, International KW - Institutions, International KW - International institutions KW - Cooperation KW - International relations KW - International organization KW - Coopération internationale KW - Légitimité des gouvernements UR - https://www.unicat.be/uniCat?func=search&query=sysid:5397812 AB - The conventional view of international society is that it is interested only in co-existence and order amongst states. This creates a puzzle. When the historical record is examined, we discover that international society has repeatedly signed up to normative principles that go well beyond this purpose. When it has done so, it has built new normative constraints into international legitimacy, and this is most conspicuously so when it has espoused broadly humanitarian principles. This suggests that the norms adopted by international society might be encouraged from the distinct constituency of world society. The book traces a series of historical case studies which issued in international affirmation of such principles: slave-trade abolition in 1815; the public conscience in 1899; social justice (but not racial equality) in 1919; human rights in 1945; and democracy as the only acceptable form of state in 1990. In each case, evidence is presented of world-society actors (transnational movements, advocacy networks, and INGOs) making the political running in support of a new principle, often in alliance with a leading state. At the same time, world society has mounted a normative case, and this can be seen as a degree of normative integration between international and world society. Each of the cases tells a fascinating story in its own right. Collectively, they contribute to the growing IR literature on the role of norms, and especially that written from a broadly English School or constructivist perspective. The book thereby puts some real historical flesh on the concept of world society, while forcing us to reconsider traditional views about the 'essential' nature of international society. ER -